Behind the Mask
by aFlawedDesign
Summary: AU. Hyuuga Hinata is a prominent female hockey goalie. Her life gets turned upside down when she's offered a spot on the MJHL's Konoha Heat, an all boys team featuring the likes of hockey stars Uchiha, Uzumaki, and her cousin. Sasuhina
1. What Lay Behind the Mask

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: I'm Canadian and this where it shows. I love hockey. I don't play but I watch. Where I differ from the typical Canadian hockey fan is that I could care less about pro hockey. I'm a Major Junior Hockey fan, so I don't cheer for the home team when I watch NHL games but rather I cheer for the teams that feature players who played for the local Major Junior team. And that my friends, is the inspiration behind this fic. Junior players are treated like demi-gods up here, they have their own fan bases and do interviews for newspapers and newscasts. Most of the players range from age 16 to 19 with a few 20 year olds. Players are drafted into the league at 14 and are allowed to play an allotted amount of games at age 15 before being able to be placed full time on the roster at 16. They go to school and play a season of 72 games (I believe it's 72). Now that the background info it down, let's get started!

Summary: A hockey team of cocky boys encounter a spectacular goalie. How will they react when they find out the face behind the mask is that of a girl? The timid Hyuuga heiress to be exact.

* * *

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 1: What Lay Behind The Mask**

"_Uzumaki races down the right wing on a 3-on-2, Uchiha and Hyuuga following closely behind him. They enter the offensive zone, just barely on side. Uzumaki passes to Uchiha right on the tape, he takes a shot but it's blocked easily by the goalie!" There were roars of the crowd echoing through the arena as the broadcaster's voice bellowed through the radio speakers. "HUGE rebound pops out to the left faceoff circle, Hyuuga picks it off, fakes a shot… slides the puck through the defenders skates to a waiting Uzumaki who shoots and scooooores Konoha is now up 1-0." _

The girls cheered and clapped, "turn it up," one of them said while another turned to dial to increase the volume.

"_That was a phenomenal play" the colour commenter added, "they got the 3-on-2 and took full advantage of it. Uzumaki did a great job getting the puck in and landing a tape to tape pass to Uchiha who took a shot that resulted in a huge rebound for Hyuuga who faked and got the goalie to go down and then passed it back to Uzumaki who had the gaping net for the goal… these three are marvellous to watch."_

"You hear that Hinata? Your cousin's _marvellous_," TenTen said dramatically with an overdone sigh.

"What are you talking about TenTen? He's _your_ boyfriend," Temari interrupted.

"Yea, he's great isn't he?" she said with a bright grin.

The girls laughed but immediately stopped when the blare of the radio ceased. Standing in the doorway was a frustrated Anko.

"C'mon girls! We're only up 2-1," she shouted, spit exiting her mouth and making the girls closer to her wince, "TenTen! I know you can play better than that! You could have taken out that girl but you didn't!"

"She was _huge,_" TenTen replied with emphasis on the descriptive, "I would've been called for charging."

"I don't care, just don't let up," their hockey coach then turned to Hinata who sat timidly in the corner of the dressing room, "Hinata, you're playing excellent but you should have had that goal."

"She was interfered with," Ino came to her shy friend's defence, "the ref just didn't take note of it."

"What the ref calls or doesn't call is irrelevant," their coach said wisely, "they aren't suppose to dictate the game. _We _are the ones that dictate the game so let's go out there and finish off the third period with a victorious effort!"

"YEA!" the girls cheered enthusiastically and stood to exit the dressing room to play out the last period.

They stepped onto the smooth ice surface and skated around the defensive zone to warm up. Hinata skated straight to her goalie net. She scraped away at the ice with her skates to better the traction for her movements and clanked her heavy goalie stick on either side of the net's iron bars for good luck, a routine she picked up when she started playing. The players left the ice to take their seats on the bench and the only ones remaining were those set to play the first shift.

TenTen lined up at centre ice with her opponent. The referee blew the whistle and dropped the puck. The brunette promptly won the faceoff and the puck sped back to Ino who had lined up perfectly. The girls raced up into the offensive zone swiftly with grace and finesse to spare.

After the strenuous twenty minutes of the third period and many tiresome battles for the rubber disk, Konoha High's girls' hockey team came out victorious as always. They were tired from battling along the boards, in front of the net, and everywhere else on the sheen surface until they were completely out of breath, but in the end it was all worth it. These girls lived and breathed hockey, it was their escape from the everyday stresses of school and life in general. Their second home was on the frozen lakes they practiced on as children and the rinks their parents drove them to at unnatural hours of morning. This was what they had been working up to all year long.

"We're going to the finals!" Hinata's teammates yelled excitedly as they skated over to her. Hinata giggled as they jumped her and seconds later the girls were a large mound of hockey players celebrating while Hinata struggled under the weight.

Eventually they let up and released the petite Hyuuga heiress. She got to her feet and skated off to the dressing room with her teammates who were still as ecstatic as ever and they hadn't even been crowned champions… yet. They had merely qualified for the final championship game, but that was reason enough to celebrate.

Konoha High's girls hockey team was nearly cut last year because of funding issues and their lack of success, but in the face of adversity the girls pulled together and the results were beyond satisfactory. It was with the help of Hinata that they were able to turn their dismal record into that of an elite team. She had only recently transferred to Konoha at the end of last year's season when her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, was traded to the Konoha Heat of the Major Junior Hockey League. Her cousin had been dubbed a hockey prodigy that would likely go professional one day; there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he'd end up at least playing in the Major Juniors. So when he was traded away from home, Hinata's father and legal guardian of Neji, picked up and moved the entire family to Konoha.

Neji was originally drafted into the league by their hometown team, the Kumo Thunder but the team had depleted their roster of talented players and at the trade deadline of last season they decided to trade away their star player for younger prospects. Looking to the future, some would say. Neji was a star in Kumo but what was the point of having a star when you didn't have decent players to support him? Besides he only had another year or two left in the league before he went professional and they knew that as well as everyone else did.

And that was how Hyuuga Hinata, top goalie of the High School girls' hockey circuit ended up in Konoha. She was a remarkable goalie… she had to be since she practiced all her life with the Hyuuga prodigy after all. She had under her belt the longest shutout streak in all of Konoha High's history, which in turn meant she had registered the most shutouts, and she also held a GAA of 0.35 (Goals Against Average), spectacular statistics for a relative newcomer to competitive hockey.

Before moving to Konoha, Hinata had never taken part in competitive sports, not even hockey. As a toddler, she had picked up to goalie pads because Neji had convinced her to let him shoot frozen rubber at her. Being as timid as she was, Hinata obliged and willingly threw herself in front the hard objects. As she grew up, her skills were refined just as Neji's were. She would practice with him every waking moment they had as children. Neji's father, at the time was a professional hockey player in the national league, he would occasionally make stops to give the cousins pointers and he'd even end up sending a few shots her way. Hinata's father played in goal in his younger years just like she did but he never made it to the big leagues. In a sense, you could say hockey ran through Hyuuga blood. But even with that, Hinata had never desired to play competitively until she saw Neji play in the Major Juniors. Unfortunately for her, Kumo High didn't have a girls' team.

The girls continued to cheer and chant as they undressed and showered. Hinata removed her goalie equipment expertly and showered before dressing in a pair of faded jeans and a grey hoodie. She met up with Temari, TenTen, and Ino and the four exited the arena together, hockey bags in tow and sticks in hand. They loaded the equipment into Temari's trunk and took their respective seats in her car before the dirty blonde drove them home.

Hinata waved 'good bye' to her teammates when they dropped her off. She stuck the key into the door of the mansion-like home she and her family resided in. When the door swung open, she was greeted by the happy face of her younger sister, Hanabi, who tackled Hinata to the hardwood floors; the sound of her goalie sticks hitting the ground drew the attention of her parents who smiled.

"Did you win?" Hanabi asked expectedly.

"Yea." Hinata nodded with a soft smile.

"So you made it to the finals!" the younger Hyuuga exclaimed excitedly.

Hinata nodded and pushed her sister off. She stood in the foyer of the mansion and removed her shoes prior to inquiring, "did Neji win his game tonight?"

Hanabi nodded furiously. "They got a 5-0 shutout! Neji got two goals, Uzumaki got one, and Uchiha got two as well."

"That's sounds about right," Hinata replied with a satisfied smile. Konoha's stars always pulled through. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Uh… it's the last game on their road trip so… probably tomorrow afternoon," Hanabi answered while curiously eyeing her sister, "why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was going to ask him to help me practice for the upcoming final next Friday."

"That's a good idea."

"Yea," Hinata said through yawn, "I'm going to head off to bed; I'm dead tired."

Hanabi got the message and muttered a 'good night' before running up the stairs ahead of her sister. Hinata followed after her but more lazily.

* * *

The Hyuuga heiress rolled over in her bed and fluttered her eyes open. Glancing over at her digital clock, she read that it was noon already. She hated days when she slept in too late; it always felt like the day was wasted, especially Saturdays since the weekend was so short as is. She regretfully pulled off her comforter and trudged across her room. She quickly brushed her teeth in her adjoining bathroom before heading down in search of people… no one in particular, just people.

There was a note on the fridge from her parents that stated that they'd be back later. Hanabi was in the living room watching TV. There was a jingling sound of keys at the front door as Hinata walked through the foyer and towards the living room. The door swung opened to reveal her cousin.

"Neji!" Hinata greeted him with a hug, "congratulations on another win."

"Thanks," he answered as he hugged her back, "tell me you made it to the finals."

"We did!" she answered proudly as they pulled apart.

"I knew you would. Congratulations little cousin," he praised with a pat of her shoulder.

"Thanks!" she stated gratefully, "actually… I wanted to ask you a favour… I know you've been really busy and all with school and hockey… but…"

"Just spit it out, Hina."

"Will you practice with me to help prepare for the final game?" she finally mustered and gazed up at him pleadingly, "we haven't practiced together in a really long time, Neji."

He sighed tiredly and ran his hands through his long hair as he answered, "all right… uh… our team is practicing tomorrow at two so meet me at the rink at 12:30 and that'll give us an hour and a half."

"Great! Thanks Neji!" she exclaimed as she hugged him gratefully again before pulling away and sprinting up the steps.

He sighed loudly and followed her up. He needed sleep, because sleeping in a cramped chartered bus was less than ideal.

* * *

Hinata was up bright and early Sunday morning. She was meeting Neji later that afternoon and then meeting up with the girls after that to watch the Konoha Heat practice. There would be an open practice today which meant they allowed spectators. It wasn't something she particularly enjoyed doing but only tolerated it because TenTen liked to support Neji; Ino and Temari liked to pick up tips from watching the boys for their own purposes. Hinata never felt like she had anything to learn from watching them, she had Neji after all. The four girls would occasionally get berated by other fan-girls who would call them 'puck bunnies' when in actuality it was those fan-girls that came to ogle the teenage boys.

The Hyuuga heiress stretched in her seat and smiled as she wrote out the answer to the last question of her homework assignment. There, she was done and now she had the rest of the weekend to concentrate on preparing for the final game. She showered and dressed quickly before grabbing a quick snack from the kitchen. It was noon and Neji was already gone. He was always a keener which meant she probably had less than half an hour to meet him because he would probably be there already and dressed. Why he didn't wait for her, she could never understand.

She gobbled down the bagel then downed a large glass of milk before heading for the door with all her heavy goalie equipment. She was glad that her equipment bag had wheels to roll it, otherwise the walk to the arena that the Konoha Heat played at would wear her down before she even set foot on the ice.

It was exactly 12:30 when she arrived at the back entrance designated for players. There was a security guard stationed at the door as usual.

"H-hi…I'm h-here with Hyuuga N-Neji," she stuttered nervously.

The man snorted and eyed her up and down. "You puck bunnies never let up do you?" he scoffed.

"N-no, it's n-not like that," she defended.

"Just leave, the players aren't scheduled to practice until two and when they do, you can watch from the stands."

Hinata grimaced at the stubborn man and opted not to argue with him, so she pulled out her cell phone and speed dialed Neji's number.

"You're late," he said into the receiver. His lack of a proper greeting would seem rude to a stranger, but somewhere along the way Hinata had grown immune to his occasionally brash way of speaking with her.

"The guard won't let me in," she informed him.

"Ok, I'm coming," he then promptly hung up. Again she didn't mind how he so hastily hung up on her.

A minute later the door behind the security guard opened and Neji walked out fully decked in his equipment minus the skates.

"My cousin." He pointed to the pale eyed girl and motioned for the guard to let her through.

"Oh, sorry about that, I didn't know," he defended before moving aside to let Hinata pass. What was he pulling? He could've easily known had he given Hinata a moment to get a word in before shutting her out completely.

Hinata muttered a weak 'thanks' before following Neji into the underbelly of the arena. Neji had been playing at Leaf Arena for nearly a year and she had never seen any other aspect of it than what the public had access to. This arena was where the major big shot musicians performed when they came to town and having access to the otherwise unavailable part of the building made her feel somewhat special.

"You can get dressed in here." Neji led her into the dressing room whilst giving her the necessary instructions, "when you leave just take a right and you'll see the archway that leads you out to the players' bench and onto the ice."

"All right," she replied as she let the heavy bag drop to the floor.

He nodded his acknoweledgement and grabbed his skates before granting her much needed privacy.

Hinata exited the room later with all her goalie equipment on. She hobbled down the narrow hall until she reached the archway Neji had mentioned. Looking through the cage of her goalie mask she saw Neji skating laps while dribbling the puck. She smiled in anticipation of practicing with her cousin and walked down the archway and around the bench to exit through the small swinging door.

Hinata skated over to the closest net and got settled in. Neji noticed her and skated over to the blue line that marked a third of the ice. He dumped the bucket of rubber disks, "the usual?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Neji nodded behind the visor of his helmet and skated forward with the puck at an incredible speed, going towards his right. He abruptly stopped when she went down and deeked her, pulling the puck back, he slid it past her other side but it went wide and missed the open net.

"You went down early but you managed to take the angle away," he half complimented her. "Ready?"

Hinata got back into her net and nodded.

They went on like that for the next hour; Neji taking shots on her while she managed to save about three quarters of them. Against most people Hinata would be able to save nearly all the shots but Neji was a genius and had figured her goaltending style out a long time ago.

"The guys are going to arrive soon," Neji stated stoically, "I'm going to go get a drink, so you can practice for about another fifteen minutes if you want." It was always the case that time would fly by so quickly when Hinata was finally graced with a bit of cousin bonding. But time was time, and that's all she asked for.

Contented, she replied happily, "okay."

Neji skated away towards the bench where three figures stood. Hinata resumed her practice by working on her positioning and agility. She got down into 'the butterfly' position, laying the goalie pads flat along the ice, then getting up and moving over, and then repeating the steps. The faster she could go down and get back up the better; in case players passed the puck across the crease then she'd need to get to the other side to block the shot.

"Who's that?" the silver haired man asked Neji as the Hyuuga prodigy walked around the bench towards the archway.

"My cousin," Neji answered in a somewhat irritated tone and walked away.

"He's so rude to me and I even made him team captain," whined Kakashi behind his mask. He was head coach of the Konoha Heat. Beside Kakashi stood a brown haired man that went by Yamato, he held the position as assistant coach. On the other side of Yamato was one of the team's assistant captains. He was a tall boy with jet black hair and eyes that matched.

"Sasuke, let's see how talented this cousin of Neji's is," Kakashi subtly instructed with a glint in his eyes before he motioned for Sasuke to test out the foreign goaltender.

The Uchiha nodded and skated out onto the ice. He stood at the pile of pucks on the blue line and waited for the goalie to notice him. The Konoha Heat had two goalies; one was lazy and the other seemed more interested in food than hockey. The only other exposure to goaltenders Sasuke received was the byproduct of playing their season's games. Even then it was a mere portion of the entire game that Sasuke got to play, despite being one of the team's most talented players. The anticipation of being able to assess his skills against a new prospect thrilled him to no end.

Hinata looked up when she saw some movement from the corner of her eye. _Uchiha Sasuke_… That sight of him alone was shatter her reverie. Breaking out of the groove she had formed while practicing her positioning, Hinata graced him with her attention, laying her ivory eyes to look anxiously at his contrasting ones.

"You mind?" he asked while dribbling a puck with his hockey stick nonchalantly. How he and Neji carried such a confident swagger about them baffled Hinata. She was a paradox of the two, timid to the very core of her being. But there was one thing she learned from being a Hyuuga it was that she needed to be proud of who she was. Even if she lacked the confidence she was never ashamed of whom she was, and she repeated the same words to herself repeatedly. If she was knocked down, she would use all her power to pull herself back up even if it meant she had to claw her way back. At least that was how she liked to believe she was, but sometimes fear, to everyone, leaves an individual vulnerable.

She shook her head to indicate a 'no' then got into her position. He came at her with blazing speed that was even faster than Neji. She came out to take away the angle he had to shoot. He zigzagged and then sent a wicked wrist shot that she would have missed if not for her lightning fast reflexes. They went for another fifteen rounds of shots and Sasuke didn't manage to get any past the mysterious goalie.

"How did the scouts miss this little gem?" Kakashi asked rhetorically from his place over the bench as he watched one of his best players miss all his shots.

"You think he's a free agent?" Yamato asked about the goalie.

"We'll have to ask" Kakashi watched intently, "if he is then we'll definitely have to sign him."

Just as the two men finished their short exchange, Neji appeared through the archway and walked past them without the slightest bit of acknowledgement.

"Hina! We're starting practice soon so why don't you go and meet up with TenTen and them?" he shouted to his cousin who nodded but motioned for Sasuke to take one last shot.

"Hina?" Kakashi and Yamato asked incredulously.

"Yea, I call her Hina for short" he blinked at the men and their odd expressions, "her name's Hinata."

"Her?" they asked simultaneously.

"Yes" Neji wondered why they were so surprised.

Over on the ice surface, Sasuke and the mystery goalie were skating side by side towards the bench.

"I think you're better than Choiji" he complimented, "and he's one of the best in the league."

"T-thank y-you, b-but I'm s-sure Akimichi Ch-Choiji is m-much better" she stuttered meekly.

"What?" Sasuke had barely heard a word that was uttered.

Hinata sighed and reached up to remove her mask so she could speak more freely. She pulled it off and let her indigo hair pool around her neck while her bangs framed her feminine face. She was slightly shocked when she met Sasuke's face which held an expression somewhere between disbelief and annoyance. They finally reached the bench.

"Come on Hinata" Neji grabbed the fabric of her practice jersey and dragged her through the archway.

"So, that superb goaltending was by a girl all along" Yamato said in awe.

"I couldn't get a goal pass a _girl?_" Sasuke seethed.

"Yamato, what are the league rules for girls playing?" Kakashi smirked and asked his partner.


	2. Goaltending Situation Indeed

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 2: Goaltending Situation Indeed**

_Hyuuga Neji, captain of the Konoha Heat, hockey prodigy, and a Hyuuga. He leads the number one team in the western division of the Major Junior Hockey League (which will henceforth be referred to as MJHL). But what qualities make a good leader in the eyes of their fearless coach, Hatake Kakashi? _

_Well, there are the basic stereotypical qualities: talent, skill, smarts… the list could go on. Sure, no one would deny that the Hyuuga prodigy does not possess all that and more, but the question I ask digs deep beneath the superficial surface. What you ask am I talking about? What is this quality that makes Hyuuga Neji the perfect candidate for Konoha Heat captaincy? It is the quality that the Heat's top three players hold within their grasp. Yes, you read it right; a special, unique, and all important attribute. _

_What I speak of is perseverance or more specifically the will to persevere. That is what Hatake Kakashi reveals as a trait he looks for in his players. With the will to persevere, Hyuuga, Uchiha, and Uzumaki , have garnered more success than could ever be expected of them. Each of the three players has experienced highs and lows that most could never know. _

_What these experiences are is irrelevant at this point, what matters are the young men we have before us, and more importantly, the esteemed captain. As everyone can attest, Hyuuga Neji is an extremely gifted hockey player with a body that could take out another player with one solid hit and a persona that could make opposition players quiver and skate to the bench with their tails between their legs. A silent leader, some would say. Not one for inspirational speeches or heart to hearts, but rather he is the one that pushes his teammates to the edge and even further; a strict and stern captain that emphasizes values of teamwork, sportsmanship, and pride. _

"_Strict and stern is an understatement… he's troublesome," says fellow teammate, Nara Shikamaru._

"_He works us like dogs, Inuzuka Kiba analogizes. _

"_He's a good captain, it's as simple as that," comments the cold and stoic assistant captain, Uchiha Sasuke._

"_He is ripe in his springtime of youth and leads this team wonderfully," says the speed demon on skates, Rock Lee, or otherwise known as the Green Beast. _

_I'm sure you get the message. Konoha Heat is led by a captain who has learned how to persevere and push forward, a player who can transfer his knowledge to his teammates, a player who keeps everyone in check and set on the same goal. Not to mention, he is also a captain that stands up for every single member of his team, regardless of prejudices about talent and skill; believing that anyone can persevere and fight destiny, even the weakest of players. That, my fellow Heat fans, is the reason he was named captain of one of the MJHL's top teams._

TenTen read the newspaper article proudly aloud to her friends who were seated in the stands beside her, Temari and Ino rolling their eyes at their love struck teammate.

"Hey! That's our Hina!" Ino exclaimed happily and pointed to the girl being dragged away by her cousin, "I guess she convinced Neji to practice with her today!"

"That'll help us for the final." Temari added with a sly smirk.

"Wow, Uchiha looks peed off today," TenTen noted as she neatly folded the newspaper article and put it in her back pocket, "it's like he's radiating some sort of murderous intent."

"Doesn't he always look angry?" Ino joked, "I swear, he's got something stuck up you-know-where."

"That's probably what makes him so good," Temari said with a hint of annoyance, "you know… that cocky arrogance."

"How a guy like him got so arrogant is beyond me," TenTen said, her voice laced with a hint of irritation, "I've only met him a couple times when I was with Neji but when I did… man, he scared me."

"You get scared?" Ino said with a giggle and a mocking finger.

"Of anyone else no, but Uchiha Sasuke has ice running through his veins," the girl with buns on her head retorted with a shudder at the memory.

* * *

Neji dragged Hinata through the archway by a handful of her jersey before releasing her when they entered the narrow hallway. Hinata managed to hobble a few feet in her heavy goalie equipment until they were interrupted by the Heat's head coach.

"Neji, I'd like to talk to you concerning…" The masked man looked over to the Hyuuga heiress briefly, causing her to sweat a little, then turned back to the team's captain. "…our goaltending situation."

"Our goaltending situation?" Neji asked incredulously, he had caught the look his coach gave Hinata. Neji knew Kakashi well and he also knew well what the silver-haired man like to read to pass time on their long road trips. But he also knew better. Even with the way the man's eyes wandered to the young Hyuuga heiress, Neji could already deduce the objective of this talk.

"Yes, our goaltending situation," Kakashi replied with an evident smirk under his mask.

"Fine," he relented and turned to Hinata, "go get changed Hina and I'll see you and the girls after practice."

"Y-yea, a-all right," she stuttered and scurried off to the dressing room where she had left her stuff.

Hinata blinked confusedly as she neared the dressing room. There was music blaring and many voices shouting. She was able to make one out that seemed to be speaking over the rest of the group.

"Not to mention, he is also a captain that stands up for every single member of his team, regardless of prejudices about talent and skills; believing that anyone can persevere and fight destiny, even the weakest of players. That, my fellow Heat fans-" a raspy male voice resonated through the door and Hinata couldn't help but smile when she realized the voice was speaking of her older cousin. But she was ripped out of her reverie seconds later by a deep voice behind her.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked her icily.

"Uh…" Hinata gulped nervously, "I c-came to g-get my… uh… st-stuff."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. "Stop stuttering," he commanded.

"I… uh…" Hinata was suddenly feeling quite frightened of the Uchiha. Since Neji started playing for the Konoha Heat, Hinata hadn't actually ever met any of the players nor did she have any desire to. She was more the type to admire their skills from afar.

"Well?" Sasuke's face contorted even more if that was possible.

"My s-stuff is i-in the d-dressing room," she finished and winced in preparation for what he would say in reply.

With her eyes sealed tightly, she felt his hand grab her by the shoulder and then pressure was applied, leaving her pushed up against the cement wall as he brushed passed her. "I'll get it," he said without making any eye contact, "you don't belong in there."

Hinata blinked at his statement, _don't belong in there? What's he mean by that?_

She watched as Sasuke opened the door to the dressing room and stepped in.

"Hey bastard!" the raspy voice from before greeted the Uchiha, "what are you doing?"

"Getting something," Hinata heard Sasuke reply.

"Oh yeah," the raspy voice started, "who's that belong to? It was here when we got in."

"None of your business," Sasuke said coldly.

He appeared out of the doorway with all her stuff in hand and promptly shoved it in her face. She gulped again and nervously removed the items from his outstretched hand. "W-where d-do I g-go?" she asked nervously.

"Not my problem, you figure it out," he replied with an apathetic expression and Hinata felt tears well up in her eyes.

She nodded timidly and turned to walk away. The Hyuuga heiress breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the dressing room door open and close, she glanced back to see that the Uchiha was gone. After wandering for a few minutes, where she had to stop and remove her skates because the entire underbelly of the arena did not feature rubber rugs, she finally found the girls' washroom. She searched the door for a lock but didn't find one so settled for using the larger wheelchair accessible stall.

Hinata pulled down the toilet lid and sat down to unstrap her pads. Once those were removed, she took off her jersey and padding, and then she pulled off her hockey socks followed by her hockey shorts. While she did this, teardrops seeped out the corner of her eyes and stained her rosy cheeks. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, Hinata got dressed in a pair of dark washed jeans, a long sleeved charcoal shirt, and a deep purple zip-up sweater.

She packed away all her equipment into her bag and dragged it out behind her as she exited the stall. Before leaving the washroom, she stopped to observe herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were a rosy pink, as they always were after long practices on the cold ice surface, but this time they were wet with a salty liquid. She pulled a bunch of paper towels out of the dispenser and wiped her cheeks and eyes furiously, trying to cover up her bout of the sniffles.

After she was satisfied that she removed all evidence of her cry-fest, she made her way out and found the flight of stairs that would lead her up to the spectator area. Hinata sighed and walked up, dragging her heavy bag behind her.

It didn't take her long to find her friends seated in the top row of the lower bowl. Hinata smiled and approached them.

"Hi," she said, just loud enough for the three girls to hear her.

"Hinata!" the three girls shouted as Ino pulled the Hyuuga heiress into the seat beside her.

"You got Neji to practice with you?" Ino asked with a nudge.

"Mhm." Hinata nodded, she was more than comfortable around these girls but she still wasn't one for many words.

"So you think you're ready to kick some Iwa butt at the championship final?" Temari asked with a confident smirk.

Hinata giggled lightly with her answer, "of course."

"That's what I like to hear!" TenTen said enthusiastically as she pumped her fist in the air.

The four girls talked amongst themselves about school, hockey, and boys… well actually it was TenTen talking about Neji and occasionally Ino would throw in something about Temari's baby brother. All in all it was their normal conversing.

They went for a good fifteen minutes until the Konoha Heat hit the ice for their open practice. There were claps and cheers from around the arena from fans that had come out to watch and of course TenTen yelled words of encouragement to the Hyuuga prodigy.

The team's goaltender, Akimichi Choiji got into his goal just as Hinata had done not long ago. Most goalies bring out a water bottle with them but Choiji preferred a bag of potato chips which he placed over his net.

Kakashi stood at the officials' box which was wedged in between two penalty boxes on the opposite side of the player benches, in one hand he held a hockey stick and the glove he removed from his other hand which held a marker. He drew X's and O's on the whiteboard hanging on the glass to indicate what the team would practice first. When he was complete, the boys promptly split up, four blue and five red jerseys on either side.

Hinata recognized Neji and his fellow linemates, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto clad in red jerseys. With the Heat's top line were two of their top defencemen, Aburame Shino and Rock Lee. Shino, with his intellect and calm and collected demeanour made for an excellent defencemen, someone who wouldn't buckle under the pressure of the moment but also could analyze the situation and find the perfect position. Rock Lee was referred to as the Green Beast for his unnatural infatuation with the colour and his blazing speed. If players ever got out of position and slipped up, then his speed came in handy for stopping goal scoring chances.

The five red jerseys got into position around the four blue jerseys. Lee and Shino stood on either side of the blue line, Neji on the far side of the left faceoff circle and Naruto on the far side of the right faceoff circle. Lastly, Sasuke stood beside one of the blue jerseys in front of the goalie. They had formed a sort of square around the four blues who had formed a smaller square.

Yamato came over and dropped the puck for Shino who passed it to Lee. The blues immediately got into the typical defensive stance; legs spread slightly and sticks outstretched to try and intercept passes. The Konoha Heat was good at scoring on powerplays when the opposition was a player down but Kakashi liked to emphasize cycling and clean crisp passes.

The red jerseys cycled the puck, passing between each other while waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Sasuke battled in front of Choiji against the blue jersey, they shoved and pushed each other to gain position; the blue trying to get Sasuke out of the way and Sasuke trying to screen Choiji's view.

Neji had the puck; he wound up and took a shot. Choiji brought his blocker up and the rubber disk bounced back out to the corner boards. The Hyuuga skated in along with a blue jersey and they battled tirelessly while batting and kicking the puck to try and get it out. After a few seconds the puck popped out and Neji managed to get his stick on it before the blue jersey, he sent it up to Lee at the blue line. Once the puck hit his stick, Lee wound up high and then faked a shot. The blue jersey in front of Lee dropped to block the shot but the Green Beast passed it over to Shino who had a perfect shooting lane. Aburame took a few strides forward with the puck before sending a daunting shot towards Choiji. Sasuke had seen when Lee passed to Shino and so he sidestepped to his left to block Choiji's vantage. The black disk whipped over Choiji's shoulder and into the net.

"Oh well." Choiji shrugged and pulled up his mask to stuff chips into his mouth.

A few of the blues laughed at their goalie's lack of motivation to stop the puck.

_Goaltending situation indeed_, thought Neji inwardly as he recollected his conversation with Kakashi.

The team practiced their cycling and a few other drills before breaking off into two teams for scrimmages. Of course Neji played alongside his linemates and it didn't take long for them to score against Choiji, but it also didn't take long for the blues to score against Shikamaru who couldn't be bothered to save the puck.

When Neji scored his third goal of the scrimmage, TenTen shouted "HATTRICK!" at the top of her lungs and then hooted and hollered. This earned the Hyuuga a few playful jabs from his teammates and the girls received some glances, stares, and grins.

Hinata sank into her seat as she noticed a few of the players look up their way, one player specifically made her squirm. Sasuke's deep onyx eyes bore into her being, his glare hard and jagged. The Hyuuga heiress recoiled and then hiccupped from holding her breath under his gaze. Her friends looked at her with interest which she shrugged off and immediately got out of her seat.

"I h-have to g-get home." She played with her finger nervously. "I… uh… n-need to s-shower."

"Are you alright Hinata?" Ino asked in concern.

"Y-yea, I'm f-fine," Hinata replied while nodding hastily, "I d-didn't get to s-shower after p-practice… I'm g-going to go h-home."

"Oh okay." Ino nodded slowly in acknowledgement as she and the rest of the girls watched Hinata wave and then frantically walk towards the exit with her equipment bag in tow.

Sasuke smirked from his spot on the ice as he watched Hinata essentially run away. _Weak_, he thought to himself.

* * *

When Hinata got home the house was empty. Hanabi had probably gone off to play hockey with a few boys from her school and her parents were either with her and watching or out doing lord knows what. She had jogged up the stairs like she was being chased by a rabid St. Bernard and quickly showered. To her dismay, the face of Uchiha Sasuke would not leave her mind. She shuddered as she remembered his cold glare and deep icy voice. In an attempt to get her mind off the raven haired boy, she made her way down to the kitchen to prepare dinner for when everyone got home.

Hanabi and their parents got home just in time to help Hinata dish the food and set the table. Neji returned right as dinner was about to be served, but to everyone's surprise he had brought a guest that was not TenTen.

"Yo," the silver haired man greeted the family as he and Neji entered the dining room.

"Oh, I didn't know you were bringing Mr. Hatake to dinner, let me grab an extra plate," Hinata's mother said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Why thank you." Kakashi smiled under his mask and pulled out a chair to sit. "I haven't had a homemade dinner in awhile."

Neji rolled his eyes at his coach's antics and Hinata blinked confusedly at her cousin. He smiled genuinely at her which threw her off.

"W-what's going on?" her pale orbs shot between Kakashi and Neji.

"Don't be silly Hinata," her father interrupted, "Mr. Hatake is welcome here and does not require a reason to visit."

"I appreciate your generosity," Kakashi replied as the corners of his eyes wrinkled to indicate his hidden smile, "but I do have something I'd like to discuss with Hinata and your family."

"Something to discuss with Hinata?" the Hyuuga matriarch asked as she re-entered the dining room with a spare plate.

"Yes, as I'm sure you're all aware," Kakashi started and turned to look at the timid indigo haired girl, "Hinata is an exceptional goaltender…"

* * *

A/N: The Sasuhina front will be steady and slow moving. Lastly, the Genin 9 are all 17, team Guy are 18, Temari and Kankurou will be written as fraternal twins aged 18, and Gaara is 17.

A hattrick is when a player scores three goals in one game.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	3. You Never Know Until You Try

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 3: You Never Know Until You Try**

"Hinata, I ask that you consider joining our practice tomorrow afternoon" Kakashi got to his point after tiptoeing around the subject as everyone ate dinner.

"Tomorrow's M-Monday, I h-have school" she shook her head weakly, "I c-can't."

"It's just an afternoon" the silver haired man reasoned, "you'll only miss a few classes."

"Hina, we need you" Neji cut through the tension.

"N-need me?" she blinked.

"Yea… uh… our goalie is injured" Kakashi smirked under his mask and Neji glared at him.

"In-injured?!" she squeaked, "Akimichi Chouji is in-injured?"

"Yes, injured" Kakashi replied slyly.

"I'm s-sorry b-but I can't" she turned to look over at her father, "I c-can't miss c-classes."

"Nonsense" Hyuuga Hiashi smiled at Neji's coach, "you have excellent grades. A few missed classes can do no harm."

"Oh ok" she replied weakly and dropped her head. The thought of being on the same ice surface as Uchiha Sasuke made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, she didn't like it.

"I'll come pick you up at lunch" Neji caught the saddening of her mood but didn't quite know why she wouldn't want to practice with the team, "don't worry about a few missed classes, I'm sure the practice will help you prepare for your final."

"Final?" Kakashi's head popped up from his plate.

"Yes, Hinata and her high school team have made it to the championship final this Friday" her mother answered proudly.

"I guess that's no surprise with your spectacular goaltending" Kakashi smiled, "so then, it's settled. You will practice with us tomorrow."

"Mm" she nodded meekly.

* * *

Hinata twiddled a pen in her fingers as her head was rested in the palm of her hand. It was the second class of the day which meant it was the class right before lunch and in fifteen minutes class would let out and she would be on her way to the rink.

Ino, who was in the same grade as Hinata, had most classes with the Hyuuga heiress. The platinum blonde beauty elbowed her friend in her side, "are you feeling alright?"

"Hm" Hinata nodded and pulled on a smile. It was a lie; she wasn't feeling alright, in truth, she was terrified, "by the way, could you hand in my homework for bio?" she asked as she pulled out a few sheets from her binder.

"Why? You're not coming to class?" Ino asked curiously.

"No, Neji is offering to practice with me this afternoon" she told a half truth. What was the truth? Well, the truth was that she was being forced to throw herself in front of frozen rubber shot by some of the most elite teenage hockey players… _oh joy_… and to top that off, one of those players didn't appear to be too fond of her.

All last night during dinner and before bed Hinata had contemplated the reasons Uchiha Sasuke treated her so horribly. She came up with one reason that made sense; all the other reasons were absurd considering she hadn't done anything to him. He, Uchiha Sasuke, assistant captain of the Heat, friend and teammate of Neji, was a chauvinistic and misogynistic jerk who couldn't accept the fact that he couldn't beat a girl.

That was the conclusion the Hyuuga heiress utilized to explain the Uchiha's animosity. It was last night that she developed a new resolve to show him up and have him fall in a blazing heap of failure when they practiced. Yep, Hyuuga Hinata was going to show everyone that Sasuke wasn't all that great and that he didn't have the right to treat her like she didn't belong there. Alas, even with her newfound hope and determination, she was still quivering in her brown suede boots and fighting her hands' natural inclination to fiddle with each other.

"Wow, you're really putting in a lot of time to prepare for the final?" Ino commented with a smile and a gentle nudge.

"I guess" Hinata replied.

"Don't overwork yourself Hina. Remember you're an amazing goalie already!"

"Mm" she smiled gratefully at her friend; Ino always knew how to make her feel better.

The instructor at the front of the classroom finished up the last of her lecture and then dismissed the class. Hinata packed away her books and headed out of the room with Ino. Standing outside the door was Neji; he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Ready?" he pushed off the wall and met her face to face.

"Yea" she nodded.

"Alright, we'll head out after I find TenTen" Neji responded stoically. Hinata couldn't resist her urge to smile at her cousin. Even if he rarely showed it, he did care for TenTen very much.

Hinata led him to TenTen's locker where they greeted each other with a quick peck. They exchanged a few words that Hinata didn't catch because she opted to give them some privacy. Once that was complete, the two Hyuugas headed out to Neji's car. They drove to the rink in relative silence until it was broken by her cousin.

"There's something you should know" he said while keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

"What is it?"

"Chouji's not injured, Kakashi gave him the day off" Neji cracked a smirk at his little cousin's confused expression, "anyway, he thinks you're good and wants the guys to practice with a better goalie for once."

"Huh?" she said, "but Akimichi has the third best GAA in the league."

"He also has one of the league's best defensive cores in front of him, our team has one of the strongest offensive and defensive players but our goaltending has always been mediocre at best" he sighed, "I'm not knocking Chouji, but he would rather sit on the bench with a bag of chips."

"What about Nara?"

Neji chuckled lightly, "Shikamaru is the laziest person I know, he's a horrible goalie… but he's brilliant."

"I can't be better than them"

Neji shrugged, "you never know until you try."

"I don't even want to try" she pouted behind her curtain of indigo hair, "you guys don't need me for a measly practice."

"Maybe not, but both coach and I would like to see the guys have an opportunity against someone of higher calibre" he turned into the parking lot of the arena, and once the car was parked the two stepped out, "by the way, Kakashi will be referring to you as Hyuuga and not Hinata. We request that you don't make the fact that you're a girl known."

"Why does it matter?" she felt her blood boil and was reminded of Sasuke.

"We think the guys will go easy on you if they know you're a girl" he smirked at her, "we want to see you succeed against the best… and you _will_ succeed Hina."

"Mm" Hinata nodded and hugged her cousin, "thank you Neji."

"You're always welcome" he released himself from her embrace, "let's hurry."

They entered through the back door where the familiar security guard stood watch. She followed her cousin as they manoeuvred through the arena and towards the dressing room with their equipment pulled behind them. They reached the door and Neji's face contorted into a look of contemplation.

"I'll change in the washroom" Hinata said quickly and turned to leave.

"The washroom? Why would you use the washroom?"

"You and the guys will use the dressing room" she explained.

"You can use the visitor's dressing room" he pointed down the narrow hall, "it's the room marked 'visitors'"

_Why didn't I think of that yesterday? Why didn't Uchiha offer me that room?_ She thought to herself angrily.

"Ok" she nodded and walked off towards to visitor's dressing room. She went through her usual routine for getting dressed, pulling on all the gear for the bottom half of her body first. Neji wanted her to hide the fact that she was of the female variety so she split her long hair into two neat French braids and then with two hair clips she pinned the braids up against the back of her head. She left her bangs in front because her mask would hide it. Once satisfied with her hair, she put on all her padding and pulled on the practice jersey that Neji had packed in her bag.

Hinata looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. Even after Neji's kind words of encouragement, she was still terrified at the prospect of encountering Sasuke. Sighing in defeat, she pulled her mask over her head and exited the room.

She walked down the narrow hall from yesterday, except that today she was coming from the opposite side, from the visitors' room. Hinata saw a few of the Heat players wandering the halls and walking through the archway onto the ice.

One of the players noticed her from down the hall, "hey Chouji, I thought you got the day off" the boy with triangular red markings on his cheeks asked, "oi, did your padding get smaller?"

"Kiba, hit the ice" came a voice from behind Hinata.

"Yes sir, coach!" Kiba said mockingly with a salute before walking through the archway and disappearing from Hinata's sight.

"I'm glad you came Hinata" Kakashi walked around her to stand face to face with the Hyuuga heiress, "I'll assume that Neji talked to you?"

"Y-yes" she answered shyly.

"Great, shall we go introduce you to the players?" he pointed to the other archway that led out onto the visiting players' bench.

"Mm" she nodded and followed behind him. From the bench she could see all the players skating to warm up their legs and shooting pucks aimlessly at the empty net. One player in particular skated by the bench and glared daggers at her with his dark obsidian eyes; she shuddered under his gaze and almost ran away.

Neji skated over and stopped in front of the bench, "coming?" he asked and motioned towards the team.

"Yea" she nodded and walked through the swinging door and skated alongside him towards the group of boys.

Kakashi cleared his throat to get the players' attention. They convened around him at centre ice, a few of them giving Hinata curious glances as they noticed it wasn't Chouji. "We have a guest at our practice today" he put a hand on Hinata's shoulder, "Hyuuga here is Neji's cousin and a good goalie. Sh- uh he-… uhh… Hyuuga will be playing in place of Chouji."

Neji rolled his eyes at his coach's pathetic attempt at hiding her gender so he interrupted to address the team, "as coach already stated, my cousin will be a guest at our practice today and I expect you all to be welcoming" he scanned the crowd with stern pale eyes, "now, break off! We'll start with cross ice passes and odd man rushes, followed by skating drills, and then scrimmages."

"So… who's the coach?" Kakashi looked lazily at the oldest Hyuuga, who ignored him and skated off to join his linemates, "your cousin is a grouch."

Hinata blinked at the man's oddly childish behaviour and nodded.

"Hey Hyuuga, you coming?" one of the blue shirted players called her. She uttered a quiet farewell to the coach and skated into the net.

The first half of the practice went easy for her because she had been practicing with blue jersey players which she figured out were second and third line players. It was the red team that featured the Heat's tops players, Neji and his first line and the team's best defencemen, but that team also had the fourth line which were the lesser talented players who worked the forecheck and took out bodies.

When they started the scrimmage, Hinata finally got a taste of how good Neji and his linemates really were. She had undergone the most labour intensive workout in her short hockey career. They skated fast and hit hard, seemingly connected by some telepathic network because they _always_ knew where the others were. Their stickwork was tricky and often caused opposition players to misinterpret and falter. Their passes were clean and landed on the blades of their sticks with uncanny precision. But Hinata wasn't going to let that faze her; her team was up 1-0 because of Shikamaru's lacklustre performance.

After twenty minutes of the scrimmage, Kakashi called a break and Hinata's players and a few from the red team skated over to get a better look at the goalie that had managed to turn away the ten blistering shots that came her way. They complimented her and she nodded in acknowledgement, afraid that her voice would betray her.

"You're really good" a blonde boy with whisker marks on his cheeks skated over, "the bastard Sasuke is getting really ticked off that he can't score."

Hinata couldn't help but smile brightly when she heard him say that.

"Neji has never mentioned that he had cousin" a boy who wore sunglasses under his visor commented, "do you play for one of the other MJHL teams?"

_Do I play for a MJHL team?_ Hinata's eyes widened at Shino's insinuation, _could I really be that good?_

She shook her head to say 'no.'

"Well then maybe you'll like to play for us sometime" the blonde said cheerfully, "we could use a good goalie."

They were interrupted by the loud whistle from Kakashi at centre ice, "switch ends… reds, you have twenty minutes to come back" he smirked at the red jersey players.

"Don't worry! We haven't lost a scrimmage all season and it's not going to start now" Naruto boasted loudly, "right bastard?!"

"Hn" Sasuke retorted as he lined up for the opening faceoff. He looked to Hinata and smirked arrogantly before breaking their eye contact and bending down to take the faceoff.

Hinata felt a chill run down her spine when her pale lavender eyes met his onyx orbs. He really did scare her.

Kakashi dropped the puck and Sasuke won it. The puck whipped back between his legs and was picked up by Lee who passed it up to Neji. A blue player came up to check the Hyuuga prodigy so he dumped the puck into the offensive zone. Sasuke followed in and hit the corner boards with one of the blue team's defensemen. They battled fiercely for the piece of rubber which popped out when Sasuke managed to kick it out behind Hinata's goal net. Neji skated in behind the net to pick up the puck. The blue player that had previously been on Sasuke went after the older Hyuuga, but Neji kept him off with one outstretched arm while the other handled the stick singlehandedly.

He came out from behind the left side of Hinata's net. She hugged the post on the left to take away any room for Neji to shoot, her legs were parted slightly in anticipation of a cross crease pass; she hadn't missed Sasuke sneak up on her right side. As she predicted, Neji sent the puck cross crease and it landed perfectly on Sasuke's stick. Hinata pushed off with her left leg just in time to catch Sasuke's shot in her chest. She hunched over and wrapped her arms around to hold the puck in. Eventually the area of her crease cleared of players and Hinata released the puck.

"Wow, awesome save" one of the blue players complimented as he hit her goal pads with his stick, "I've never seen anyone get Sasuke so flustered."

Hinata nodded and grinned victoriously under her mask.

The players lined up at the faceoff circle to her right. She was slightly thrown off when she noticed that it wasn't Sasuke that was taking the faceoff. He had switched places with Neji. _What are they planning?_

The Hyuuga prodigy promptly won the faceoff which went to Lee. He skated deep into the zone and his defensive position was covered by Sasuke. The Green Beast cycled the puck behind the net and passed to Naruto who passed it back up to Shino at the blue line. Shino sent the rubber disk over to Sasuke. The Uchiha smirked deviously and skated forward towards the blue player; he deeked and got the player to fall out of position. Skating around the player, he found a clear shooting lane. Neji and the other blue player in front of Hinata had somehow gotten themselves tangled during the pushing and shoving and were now down and out. It was Uchiha Sasuke vs. Hyuuga Hinata.

He wound his stick up high in the air and brought it down to the puck. Hinata gasped when she saw the puck leave the sheen surface and race towards her. He was too close and it was too fast, she didn't have time to react. It hit her in the right side of her mask and her head snapped back. Her glove hand came up to help leverage her now very heavy head and then she dropped to the ground.

"Hinata!" Neji shouted and untangled himself from the blue player, he bent down to meet her head which was faced down against the ice as she was hunched over, "are you okay?"

She shook her head and squirmed in her heavy goalie equipment. Tears welled up in her eyes, her head was throbbing and her neck was stinging. Hinata had seen the look in the Uchiha's eyes when he shot that puck and she was convinced that he had done it on purpose.

What she didn't notice was Sasuke's waver when the puck hit its unintended target instead of going over her shoulder. He almost skated over to check on her but managed to stop himself when Neji fell to her side.

"Hey, let me take off your mask" Neji said soothingly as he removed her hands from over her head. Hinata complied and let him remove her mask before sitting up. She kept her head down so that no one could see the tears in her eyes but she could see all the feet surrounding her. "Where did you get hurt?" he asked as his bare hands roamed her head, "I can't feel anything with your hair in the way."

Hinata removed her gloves and brought her hands up to her head to unclip the braids and then remove the hair ties. She ran her fingers through her hair to release it from its prior braided restraints and felt for the spot the puck had hit. She winced at the dull pain when her fingers grazed the spot. "It's here" she said to Neji.

He pushed the hair away to investigate the region, _no blood_. When he pushed against it Hinata hissed, "it's a little tender" he informed, "are you feeling dizzy, drowsy, or nauseous?"

"No"

"Then it'll probably just bruise a bit, nothing to be worried about" he stood up and held a hand out for her. She took it and was pulled up, but her pale eyes widened in horror when she met the curious stares from the rest of the players.

"Gee…" Naruto scratched his chin with his hockey glove, "you look an awful lot like a girl…"

"She is a girl" Sasuke said impassively.

"What?!" Naruto yelped in disbelief.

"Alright…" Kakashi shoved his way through the team of players and waved his arms to tear their attention away from the Hyuuga heiress, "Neji, take Hinata to get changed and then meet us in the dressing room… rest of you guys, team meeting."

Neji guided Hinata to the visitors' dressing room while the rest of the team filed off the ice. Once he was certain that she was settled in and alright to change, he left to return to his dressing room to meet with the rest of the team.

"Ah, Neji how is she?" Kakashi asked as the team captain walked over to his stall and removed his helmet and gloves.

"She'll be fine" he answered indifferently.

"Alright, since everything is in order and everyone is here" he scanned the room to doublecheck; "I'd like to discuss our goaltending situation."

"How troublesome" Konoha Heat's backup goalie muttered as he sat beside Chouji who was munching on potato chips.

Kakashi ignored Shikamaru and continued, "yesterday after our practice, Yamato and I looked through the league rules and its constitution and found that there are no distinctions that would disallow a female player from joining the league." He stopped briefly to let the implications of his words sink in, "I wanted you boys to see her play before approaching you about the idea… I've already talked to the team's owner, Jiraiya, and I'm sure you can figure out what he had to say about a girl joining the team. All that's left is to consult the players, you guys. I'm specifically interested in hearing what the captain and the two assistant captains have to say… Neji?"

"She's my cousin. I think she's a great goalie. I'm biased" Neji stated firmly and received a few raised eyebrows for the last part.

Kakashi motioned to Naruto, who seemed to be deep in thought, "Naruto?"

"I say… why not?" he smiled, "she's good and with her on the team Suna wouldn't be a threat anymore."

Everyone then turned to the last assistant captain for his opinion. Sasuke sat at his stall, his face adorning a scowl, "we have two capable goalies. We don't need her."

"He called us capable" Chouji nudged his best friend and chuckled.

"Troublesome…" Nara Shikamaru sighed, "everyone knows I'm not a goalie or a hockey player, I can barely skate" he rolled his lazy half lidded eyes, "you guys just keep me on the roster so I can tag along on games and work strategies… I have no qualms about being relegated to a healthy scratch."

"Yea and even I know I'm only good because of the defence in front of me" Chouji added through munches, "I personally wouldn't mind sitting out."

"Have they convinced you?" Kakashi turned to Sasuke.

"No"

"Any particular reason for being against this?"

"No"

"Hmm… well, that was convincing" Kakashi sighed tiredly, "as much as I'd like to say this is a democracy, it isn't. I just wanted your opinions, ultimately the decision sits with Yamato, Jiraiya, and I… we've decided to approach her with an offer to join the team."

**

* * *

**

**A/N:** Third chapter complete! (dances) Did you think Kakashi was going to offer her a spot off the get go? Nah… life's not so simple… hint, hint. I don't know if a puck in the mask could hurt as much as I described but I figure if he was close enough and shot it hard enough, it could hurt... maybe? Oh well, I'm not changing it. I can't give you a glimpse of next chapter because unlike my other fics, this one does not have pre-written chapters, meh. Expect it in a week.

Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers thus far!  
To _**lil.ramen.lover **_I'm so appreciative that you wrote such an extended and thoughtful review. It'll be interesting because you did raise some question I didn't think about already. The first few questions should have already been answered with this chapter. I don't know if I want to write Hinata falling for Naruto or Sasuke **(edit: I meant "Naruto _and_ Sasuke" sorry, this is strictly Sasuhina)** because that may make things difficult for me. Neji's team will affect the girls' championship final in some way, shape, or form… whether direct or indirect, you'll have to wait and see. Kiba's on the team, right now he's just background noise but his character will be built upon. I left Sakura out so that I'd have a spare female character to use later on. I'm considering taking a stab at writing an unlikeable Sakura this time, what does everyone think?

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope this chapter sufficed. Please leave a review!


	4. Friends and Loyalties

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 4: Friends and Loyalties**

A room coloured with bold violet walls accented by gentle stencils of lavender flowers sat idly in silence and under the brilliant moonlight that ushered through the window. In one corner, a bed was strategically placed and in another corner was a work desk graced with piles of books, papers, trinkets, and a small vase holding delicate pearly lavender carnations, a true utopia for its occupant… at least for now.

The sadistic ringing of Hinata's alarm clock chimed into her ears and she groaned under her comforter. It felt like she had only been asleep for an hour and it was time to get up already… or maybe she had set the alarm wrong and in reality she did only sleep an hour which meant she would have more sleep. She turned over in her bed to find the alarm clock on her end table, its red-lit digits were blurry as her eyes focused. She was hopeful that maybe she had set the clock wrong but as the numbers cleared she read 4:30AM.

"Ugh…" she groaned and slowly pulled her comforter off and landed her feet to her hardwood floors. She shut off the buzzing and then trudged over to her closet to grab a change of clothes then escaped into her adjoining washroom. Minutes later, the Hyuuga heiress reappeared dressed in black khaki pants and a thin hooded sweater under a forest green windbreaker. The windbreaker was the school's official athletics wear, adorning Konoha high's leaf emblem over her left breast and her name and team affiliation on the back.

Hinata tied her long indigo hair into a messy bun before grabbing all her schoolbooks and exiting her room. The halls were quiet as they always were, it was 4:30AM after all, and who wakes up at that time? Oh right, dedicated hockey players do.

Walking down the steps she took a right towards the kitchen and placed her book bag on the dining table before heading straight for the fridge. She pulled out two eggs, a package of bacon, and then she reached for the bread in a cupboard. Two frying pans sat on the stove, one for the eggs and the other for the bacon. Two pieces of bread were thrown into the toaster. She let the pans heat up as she prepared a cup of tea with the water boiler that sat beside the rice cooker in the corner. After the meal preparations were complete, Hinata ate her hearty breakfast and likely high caloric intake that she would burn off soon.

Putting the dishes in the sink she took one last glance at the clock, which read 5:05AM so she bristly headed to the front door with her book bag slung over a shoulder. But before she could leave, her attention was drawn to a hot pink sticky note over the door's lock.

_Meet me at Leaf arena after school_

_-Neji_

She smiled and removed the note. Neji knew she never read the notes on the fridge unless she was looking for someone. Sometimes it astounded her how well Neji knew her.

Pulling the door open, she walked out into the crisp morning air and towards her car. It took her half an hour to reach Konoha high's community rink located on the other side town. The area she resided in was catered to families of higher social status and most of those families' children attended Konoha Academy, which was walking distance from her home. Neji was a student there just like the rest of his team were. The school itself resembled a boarding school because it provided lodging in dormitories for whoever wished to take advantage of it. She knew that of all the Konoha Heat players, Neji was the only one that didn't stay at the school.

When they had moved, her father wanted her to attend that school and she almost did until someone mentioned that Konoha high had a girls' hockey team. She was glad that she made the right decision; she never did fit in with the rich superficial types anyway. Besides, if she had gone to Konoha Academy instead then she wouldn't have Ino, Temari, and TenTen and then even Neji wouldn't have met TenTen, so it worked out for the best.

Hinata pulled into the modest sized parking lot and instantly saw a few of her teammates walking into the building. She shut off her engine and dashed to her trunk to grab her equipment before heading in as well. The arena was small in comparison to the one Neji's team used. This one, she guessed, sat about 1500 people at most. The seats were benches that were old and relatively uncomfortable. The same could be said about the dressing rooms, which weren't all that attractive either, nothing compared to the luxury the Konoha Heat players were swimming in.

"Hina, be my pillow" Ino droned as she paced groggily to her timid friend and wrapped her arms around Hinata's shoulders then leaned her head against the left side of Hinata's. She giggled and shifted her right foot to help balance both of them so they didn't topple over. She always thought early-morning Ino was cute, not drop dead gorgeous cute like she usually was but the clingy, I-need-my-mommy sort of cute.

From the direction of the dressing rooms she saw Temari and TenTen approaching, "what are we waiting for?" she asked the pair.

"Anko's late so a couple of the girls went to look for the janitor to unlock the dressing rooms" Temari answered cheerfully as she joined in on the hug and wrapped her arms around Hinata's other side from Ino. Hinata made sure to tilt her head just enough so that Temari missed the spot she had taken the puck the day earlier.

Ino groaned as she was shifted slightly, "I'm trying to sleep…"

"No time for sleep!" TenTen shouted into the platinum blonde's ears as she too joined in the hug, wrapping her arms around all three girls.

"Cruel and unusual punishment" Ino muttered as she dug her head into Hinata's hair.

"You know what I realized?" Temari started as all girls remained in place, "after the game on Friday we won't have moments like this anymore."

"Sure we will" TenTen replied, "there's still the rest of the school year and then summers."

"After the school year is over, we'll graduate and be off to college" Temari said solemnly, "it's like being torn apart."

"Temari" Hinata put a hand on the dirty blondes back, "remember the summer? We'll just have more like that."

"Ugh, stop being so depressing… can't I sleep in peace" Ino muttered, "besides, Hinata's right, summer's always a blast with the whole gang together."

"I hope so" Temari smiled weakly, "I love you girls, you know that?"

"Aw, we love you too" TenTen answered and tightened her arms, "right?"

"Mm" Hinata nodded.

"Sure, I love you as much as the next person that keeps waking me up- Ow!" Ino narrowed her eyes at TenTen who had just smacked her. They glared for a brief moment and then everyone broke out into laughter.

"Okay" Hinata stated assertively but it still came out quiet, "we should make our last game together a memorable one."

"She's got the right idea, forget all this mushy crap and let's kick Iwa's butt from here to the moon!" TenTen added enthusiastically.

"Yea, we're going to be champs by Friday evening" Temari smiled brightly.

"Of course we are! We have Hinata after all," Ino pulled the indigo haired girl closer, "we'll be champs this year and then in honour of you two, me and Hinata will win it again next year… I just hope the boys' team loses then that way they'll get the morning rink slot and we'll get the afternoon one… I hate 6AM practices."

"You know what we should do after school today?" TenTen asked as she nuzzled her head against the others.

"Sleep?" Ino muttered with a sheepish grin.

"No, we should go to the Paintball Park. We haven't done something like that in ages and it'll be good to get our minds of school and the game and everything else that's depressing"

"That's a great idea!" Temari's head popped up.

"Erm… I can't" Hinata said sadly, "Neji wants me to meet him after school."

"Nooo" Temari whined, "TenTen knock some sense into that boyfriend of yours, we need Hinata time too."

"We can go another time" Hinata reassured.

"GIRLS!" Anko said loudly and all four girls jumped out of their group embrace.

"Anko… did you have to be so loud?" Ino whined as she rubbed her eyes awake.

"Of course, what type of coach would I be if I was quiet?" she smirked and arched an eyebrow.

"A coach that has some consideration for my ears" Ino yawned and picked up her bag. The girls laughed and mimicked the platinum blonde, picking up their equipment bags, before heading to the dressing rooms.

Even at six in the morning the dressing room was lively and it only took Ino a few jabs from her teammates until she was wide-awake and fuming mad. The girls' team dressed while music blared over the radio's speakers. When all was complete and done with, the girls filed out of the room and onto the ice via two large swinging doors normally used as the Zamboni's entrance and exit at one end if the rink, they didn't have the luxury of going straight through the players' bench.

The team of twenty some odd girls stepped onto the ice two at a time and instantly shot off into a sprint around the surface's outer perimeter. Ino, Temari, and TenTen skated off ahead of Hinata, she skated at her own pace to warm up, besides there was no way she'd be able to keep up with them considering all her equipment. She managed a lap and they came around and overlapped her, Ino placed her gloved hand atop Hinata's mask and shook it affectionately before smiling and racing off to the other two who were challenging each other. Temari and TenTen were always competitive.

Hinata did another lap before picking the goal net that the team's backup goalie didn't pick. She scraped away at the surface and then shifted from one post to next and then back again with strong solid pushes of her legs. She practiced some more of her positioning, getting down and getting back up, while the rest of the girls finished their laps and split up. Temari, Ino, TenTen, and herself wore white jerseys with one half of the team while the other half adorned green jerseys.

"Gather around!" Anko said over all the voices and the girls skated over to their coach who stood at the officials' box, "so what can you tell me about Iwa's team?"

There were brief seconds of silence until one of the girls spoke up, "they're pretty strong defensively, decent offensively, and…"

"Their goalie is weak" interrupted another girl.

"Okay, good" Anko grinned, "now how do they compare to us?"

"We're well rounded in all categories" one voice answered.

"Nah… I think our specialty is offence" TenTen added with a smug grin, "defensively we're good enough to get by if you don't count Hinata."

"Basically if Hinata isn't taken into account then we're almost on a level of cancelling each other out since they're strong in areas that we play well against and vice versa" Temari summarized, "to win, we need to break past their defence and hit their goalie straight on, for them to win they need to get past Hinata."

"I don't foresee that" another girl spoke enthusiastically and Hinata smiled under her mask.

"So then what do you girls suggest?" Anko asked as she rested on her stick that was help upright.

"We concentrate on offensive tactics and leave our back end up to Hinata" a green jersey player answered, "she'll have the defensemen to support her too so our offensive players should concentrate solely on scoring."

"I assume you're alright with that Hinata?" Anko looked over to the Hyuuga heiress who nodded in agreement, "great, let's also try and involve Hinata in the offence too, how does that sound?"

"How?" Ino blinked her sky blue eyes.

"Good question" their coach smirked, "Iwa has a habit of changing lines on dump ins without sending a player into the offensive zone. So expect the players to dump the puck deep when they go to change and if we could learn to utilize this to our advantage then we may be able to get to their goalie with less trouble."

Temari's mouth formed into an 'O' shape as everyone else looked on in confusion, "you want Hinata to send the lead pass once the puck gets dumped before they finish their line change so their defensemen will be out of position."

"Bingo" Anko motioned for the girls to get up from their half knelt positions, "let's set it up, Hinata down there, you'll pass to either Temari or Ino who will skate to the offensive zone! Let's get this down, I want to see tape to tape passes as close to the offensive zone as possible without going offside!"

They started with Hinata passing to Ino who stood close to the opposition blue line; she was bent over slightly with both hands firmly grasping her stick in anticipation. Hinata stood in front of her goal with a pile of pucks. Taking one, she sent it up towards Ino but it didn't make it to the blonde who laughed at the Hyuuga heiress. Hinata pouted under her mask and sent another one but this time it went too far and missed Ino altogether.

"Come on Hinata!" Ino shouted across the rink, "think back to the summer! I know you can pass better than that."

"I didn't use a goal stick or wear lots of padding then" she muttered quietly to herself and then dribbled another puck before sending it up ice. She smiled triumphantly when she saw it land right on Ino's stick and then the platinum blonde sped forward to the goalie at the other end. Temari lined up next to try the lead pass. Again Hinata missed the first time but the second time landed with perfect precision. All the forwards practiced the lead pass with Hinata before Anko switched to a different aspect of the game to practice.

Their dark haired coach had four defensive players line up against the sideboards that ran the length of the ice. Each set of four lined up on diagonally opposite ends of the zones. Then the rest of the girls split up; green and white.

Anko stood at centre ice, "forwards wait behind the goal net and one at a time you'll skate along the boards and the defensive players will hold you back. This is to imitate when you're in the offensive zone and battling along the boards for the puck. Your task is to get past the four defensemen and then once you reach the neutral zone, pick up a puck and take a shot on the goalies. Alright, start!"

TenTen smirked devilishly, she liked this training. With a few pumps of her legs the brunette was out from behind the net and ploughing through the defensemen. She managed the first two easily but the third and fourth were slightly bigger than her but she pressed on until she broke free and picked up one of the pucks. Skating into the zone, she smiled at Hinata who came out of her net. As she neared, Hinata backed up. The brunette aimed top shelf and shot the rubber disk but Hinata's glove hand came up and caught it easily.

"Next time, next time" TenTen narrowed her eyes in a threatening manner but jokingly as she skated behind Hinata's net to line up with the other group of girls.

"Sure, next time" Hinata grinned.

They spent most of their practice doing that same drill and only Ino had managed to score on Hinata but it was a cheap shot because she had shouted something that caused the Hyuuga heiress to blush and fumble.

The last half an hour consisted of a light scrimmage where nothing too exciting happened, Hinata played well as usual and TenTen got a goal against the other goalie.

It was quarter to eight when the girls finally filed off the ice to shower and change. They did so in the usually noisy atmosphere of boisterous chanting and cheering as the girls were only a few days away from the final championship game. Once Hinata and her friends were finished they headed out and packed away their equipment bags in the trunks of their respective cars or in whoever's car they got a ride from. Hinata of course had driven that day so she exchanged her hockey bag for her book bag when she accessed her trunk. The girls opted to leave their cars parked at the community rink in favour of walking the two blocks to Konoha high. They split up when they entered the school, Ino and Hinata going to their class and Temari and TenTen going to theirs.

The day was uneventful and typical. Ino fell asleep during first class, got a stern lecture then a "Yamanaka! I'd give you detention but I feel obligated to be lenient because of your practice schedule" and then Ino would apologize profusely until the teacher turned around to which the platinum blonde would roll her eyes and swirl her finger at the side of her head to indicate the teacher's insanity. Hinata would stifle a giggle.

Lunch came and went just like the rest of the day. They had met Temari and TenTen at their usual table where they ate together in comfortable conversation.

"So why does Neji want to meet you?" Temari asked as the quartet of girls walked back to the community rink for their cars.

Hinata didn't speak but shrugged her shoulders.

"Tell him he's taking up too much of our Hinata time" the dirty blonde replied.

"And tell him he owes us a round at the paintball park" Ino added cheerfully.

"Mmhm" Hinata nodded in between giggles. They separated and Hinata waved to them before getting into her car.

She drove for a good forty-five minutes before she finally reached Leaf arena, she always made bad time when driving during rush hour but she shrugged it off. Neji couldn't be mad at her since he didn't specify exactly what time he wanted to meet. Hinata parked the car and walked up to the door where the usual guard stood.

"Good afternoon, they're waiting for you in Kakashi's office just down that way" the guard opened the door for her and pointed the way for her to go.

_They're? _She wondered before nodding to the man and walking in. It didn't take long for the door to Kakashi's office to come into view. It was a plain door painted grey like the walls. With a subtle knock she received an invitation to enter. It was a windowless room and when she entered she looked completely dumbfounded. Kakashi sat behind his desk, Neji sat in another chair near Kakashi, Hanabi was admiring the hardware that she guessed belonged to Kakashi from his playing days, and lastly, seated in two chairs in front of Kakashi were her parents.

Outside the room three pairs of feet shuffled and stopped.

"Please sit Hinata" the masked silver haired man pointed to an empty seat.

She nodded timidly and sat beside her father, "wh-what's going o-on?"

"Interesting that you should ask" the corners of Kakashi's eyes wrinkled to indicate a smile, he pulled out a folder from inside his drawer and placed it open in front of her, "this is a contract, similar to the one that Neji signed except with a few changes."

"O-okay…" her eyes wandered curiously between the room's inhabitants.

"I would have like to have approached you yesterday after the practice but I wanted to have a contract drawn up first" he stopped and observed Hinata's still very confused expression, "did you know that there are no rules against a female entering the MJHL?"

Her pale eyes widened and she looked over to her parents who smiled brightly, "wh-what?"

"He's offering you a spot on the team Hina" Neji said, getting to the point.

She looked to Kakashi who nodded and pushed the contract closer.

"Your parents have already read over the terms of the contract and have agreed"

"T-terms?" she blinked and felt slightly light headed.

"Basically, if you choose to sign then you're agreeing to attend and be on time for all practices and games unless excused. You are also expected to attend all your classes and maintain a minimum of a C plus average, though I don't think that would be a problem for you. You will transfer to Konoha Academy because of their agreement with the team to allow players to attend half days as well as being given extensions and such" he stopped when he saw her mouth open to speak.

"Ko-Konoha A-Academy?" she stuttered.

"Yes, but that's not the entire contract. You will be given 400 a month as compensation for the amount of time dedicated to the team, which would otherwise be spent working a part time job for a normal teen. Then there are the changes we made to the contract specifically for you, on road trips you will be provided with your own hotel room instead of rooming with another player and a separate dressing room will always be made available" he paused thoughtfully, "I think that's the most important stuff."

"So what do you say honey?" Hinata's mother asked sweetly.

"You'd be a great addition to the team," Neji added.

"I… I…" her hands fidgeted and her head was bowed down to hide her face.

"It's alright if you don't give us an answer now" Kakashi interrupted.

She shook her head, "I've m-made m-my decision."

"Excellent! Good news I hope"

The girls' words from the morning rang through her mind… being torn apart, playing together next year in honour of Temari and TenTen who would have graduated, being crowned champions together, spending the rest of the school year together before they were separated…

"I h-have to d-decline" she looked up into the silver haired man's face, "my f-friends all a-attend K-Konoha High… I d-don't wish to t-transfer and… m-my loyalty a-as a hockey player r-remains with t-that team… I apologize" she stood up and bowed politely to the man, "I'm fl-flattered and g-grateful for the o-offer."

Outside the door a few voices were heard then hushing sounds.

"Well, I didn't expect you to decline" Kakashi scratched his head and laughed lightly, "but just know that until the trade deadline passes, the offer remains open. I do hope you change your mind."

"Mm" she nodded and then turned to her parents, "I'm g-going to h-head home f-first."

She gave her parents quick pecks on their cheeks before waving to the Heat's coach and her siblings. Hinata bolted from the room and closed the door behind her firmly. She managed to walk a few steps before Naruto rolled out from behind a cart that carried spare folded chairs and fell on his butt.

"Eep!" she jumped back.

Naruto laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his head, "uh… hi, how's it going?"

"Idiot" Sasuke scoffed as he and Shino appeared out from behind the cart.

Hinata shuddered when her pale lavender eyes met his deep cold onyx glare, "I… uh… ha-have to g-go" she squeaked and walked off without another look or glance at the three, eventually breaking into a sprint.

The three Konoha Heat players watched as she sprinted off. Naruto raised a curious eyebrow before getting up to his feet, "I didn't think she was going to decline."

"Her loyalty is… commendable" Shino commented, "she would have indeed made an excellent addition to the team, don't you think?"

Sasuke smiled uncharacteristically in the direction she had disappeared. "Hn," he shrugged before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking off.

* * *

**Beta read by:** **lil.ramen.lover**. She did an awesome job proofing this chapter for me and for a job well done she gets a big steaming bowl of pork ramen! Oh and the hockey drills are mainly made up off the top of my head and supplemented by my personal involvement in another sport which shall remained unnamed.

**A/N:** ahhaha… Hinata declined. She could've easily accepted but then where's the fun in that? Anyway, this chapter was dedicated to the girls and their friendship. It also helped to shed some light on Hinata's character, most importantly her loyalty. Interpret the last part with Sasuke however way you wish, I still haven't figured out what to make of it and I'm the author.

A big thanks to all the reviewers of this fic. I especially love the reviews I get for Behind the Mask because they're not the typical sort of reviews. I get people telling me their personal experiences with hockey or lack thereof. Some of you share the same love for the game that I do and some don't but are still able to enjoy the fic. A couple have mentioned that they have brothers that play and as a result they are able to relate. Lastly, a very special thanks to **SpammishRice** who wrote another magnificent review. It makes me proud because you were able to pick out aspects of the characters I worked to depict and you also picked up on the subtle mention of Suna. The Suna boys will be making an appearance somewhere down the road. Oh and by the SpammishRice, I love your art! Box o' Crack Babies and the Godparents series are amazing!

This chapter was meant as a set-up to the girls' championship final which will likely go down next chapter. Expect it in a week… but before I say good-bye I thought I'd do something fun. I few years ago I bought a book titled "The Best and Worst of Hockey Firsts The Unofficial Guide" written by Don Weekes and Kerry Banks. It's full of interesting moments in hockey and is related mostly to the NHL. I'm going to quote a fact from the book and here is the first one, it shows the more entertaining moments of being a hockey fan… it's funny…

**First goalie to have his mask stolen during a game  
**_Bernie Parent, Toronto, April 8, 1971_  
The Leafs were leading the Rangers 4-1 in this 1971 playoff tilt when a brawl broke out in the third period. During the melee, Rangers winger Vic Hadfield tore off Parent's mask and tossed it into the stands. When the public-address announcer requested its return, the fans at Madison Square Garden chanted, "Don't give it back! Don't give it back!" The mask was not returned, and Parent who didn't have another mask on hand, had to give way to backup Jacques Plante. A few days later, Parent's mask was mailed to him with no explanation enclosed.  
(Weekes, D., & Banks, K. (2003). _The Best and Worst of Hockey Firsts The Unofficial Guide._ Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre Publishing Group.)


	5. Battle

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 5: Battle**

She could tell. Hinata saw the looks in her parents' faces, the worried glances. In their minds, they were questioning her choice to decline an offer to join one of the most elite teams that catered to players of her age group. To anyone else, the choice would have been a non-hesitant 'yes' because they all knew what it meant to play in the MJHL and how many doors it opened for pursuing a hockey career. But for the timid Hyuuga heiress, who saw no future in competitive hockey as a career, the decision to remain faithful to the team that had been her first and only, made for an easy non-hesitant 'no.'

Luckily, her parents never brought it up, knowing that whatever decision she made was always thought out. She was the sort to take into consideration the interests of all parties involved. The only problem lay in considering herself as one of those involved, but her parents didn't need to remind her though, because Neji did every morning for the last three mornings.

Neji, Hinata, and Hanabi sat at the dining table on a Friday morning, waiting for breakfast to be served. Hanabi was reading a book while doing her best to ignore the other two occupants. These two other occupants were partaking in a war of stares, fighting an unspoken battle. Neji sat across from Hinata with narrowed pale eyes and his hand interlaced under his chin. Hinata, in the seat across him, wore an apathetic gaze, though her indexes were firmly pressed together and hidden under the table.

"Hinataaaa" Neji broke the silence, saying her name in a nagging manner, "the trade deadline is one week from today."

"I don't care" she shot back before dropping her gaze for a well-deserved break from the staring war.

"We lost yesterday" he informed for the hundredth time since he'd arrived home from their 2-1 loss the night before, "we probably would have won if you had agreed to play goal for us."

"No, you would have won if Inuzuka didn't get into that fight with the wimpiest guy on the other team, only to get slapped with a 5 minute major for fighting and then a 2 minute minor for instigating," a small smile played on her lips, "while Uzumaki was _already_ sitting in the penalty box for a 4 minute double minor for high sticking and cutting the opposition player's lips."

"Yea, and while we were two men down on the penalty kill, Chouji let in two goals" he leaned forward, "you probably could have saved them."

She chuckled lightly, "even I couldn't have prevented those! What was it? Two goals in fifteen shots within the span of four minutes? Fifteen shots in four minutes is ridiculous."

Neji sighed and ran his hands through his long hair. She was right, as magnificent a goalie as she was, even she would have slipped up under those conditions. Heck, even a professional would have allowed a couple goals.

"Fine, be that way. I'm going to school" he stood up and slung his book bag over his shoulder, "tell Auntie I'll grab something to eat there."

"Alright" Hinata replied cheerfully. In her mind, she had surfaced victorious.

On his way out, Neji made sure to remind the Hyuuga heiress of a certain upcoming deadline, "remember Hina, you have one week to accept the offer."

"Good bye Neji, I'll see you at my game tonight" she ignored his verbal insertion as he disappeared from her line of sight.

Neji breathed in a large breath of cool air upon stepping outside for his short walk to school, which lasted a whole ten minutes. He pulled up his sleeve to do a quick time check before heading to the school's dining hall where his fellow teammates were likely having breakfast before classes started for the day. Walking through the halls this particular morning wasn't necessarily a pleasant experience for the Hyuuga prodigy. He received his usual greetings from the students, who recognized him as captain and hockey star, which came fully equipped swooning girls. But this morning also entailed a few sympathetic looks and verbal jabs for losing the previous night, which didn't sit well with the competitive Hyuuga.

Chattering from the dining hall sounded loudly as Neji neared the room. He walked through the open double doors and let his pale eyes scan the room in search of his teammates. He found the team split across three long rectangular tables.

The room was flowing with life as students mingled amongst themselves. All the students were dressed in predominantly green, the guys wearing black slacks and a deep green coloured sweater over a white cotton polo shirt. The girls were dressed the same on top, but instead of slacks they wore grey plaid skirts with accents of green and yellow. A few of the girls Neji had passed on the way in wore lime green ties under their sweaters as an indicator that it was game day for them, just like one of the girls that sat between Sasuke and Naruto did. The Konoha Heat players never took part in the ritual of wearing ties on their game days, because they weren't officially part of the school's sports program. They didn't play for Konoha academy or represent them in an athletic form. They were just students at the school.

As the Hyuuga prodigy approached the table occupied by his linemates, Sasuke greeted him with a nod before moving his bag to make room. Neji took the seat beside the Uchiha and received greetings from his fellow teammates as well as some of the girls that saw fit to wedge their way into the table. Kiba especially, was always welcoming of the many girls who always insisted on sitting with the boys, even though the dog-loving hockey player dubbed each and every one a 'puck bunny' when they weren't around. But for Neji, of all the girls that attempted to join the group of hockey players, he only tolerated one and only approved of one.

The one that he did approve of was a girl that reminded him of Hinata on occasion, a quiet brunette with striking features but generally overlooked by her classmates as bland and boring. That was, until Shino noticed her. They made for the perfect couple, both being relatively quiet while still exuding an air of silent confidence, and on top of that, they both loved science, biology, and, brace yourself… bugs. Neji figured the more accurate description would be that they made the perfect weird couple.

And then there was the other girl that seemed to always be a staple at their table. A girl with bright, beautiful emerald eyes, a soft complexion, and vivacious bubble gum pink hair. Haruno Sakura was her name, arguably the most popular girl in school, not just in the eyes of the student body but also well liked by the teachers. She was a straight 'A' student, 11th grade student council representative, and captain of Konoha Academy's number one ranked girls' field hockey team. She was definitely something to be awed over if you were of the male species and maybe even if you were of the female variety.

Naruto definitely had noticed her, falling hard for her seemingly sweet smile, which was why she was welcomed to their table so openly. But even with Naruto's open adoration of the girl, everyone knew where her eyes wandered. But everyone also knew why nothing ever came of Sakura's infatuation with a certain raven haired hockey player; Sasuke and Naruto were like brothers after all and the Uchiha would never betray his brother… or well, at least this brother.

For the Hyuuga prodigy, even with all of Sakura's apparent admirable qualities, something about her didn't sit well with him and he only tolerated her for Naruto's sake, just as Sasuke appeared to only tolerate her. Well, upon further inspection, they weren't the only ones that merely tolerated her presence.

"Have you had any luck with Hinata?" Shino asked Neji as he finished highlighting a line in his girlfriend's biology text before handing it back to her.

"I'm still working on it" Neji replied while snatching one half of Lee's grilled cheese sandwich as the bowl cut haired boy was too busy yammering to some girl about her springtime of youth, "I've got a plan though."

Sakura's ears perked at the mention of a girl's name, "who's Hinata? I thought you were dating some girl from the _public_ school," she stated with a smug smirk and distasteful emphasis on the word 'public.'

"Hinata is Neji's cousin, Sakura" Naruto bellowed happily as he clambered to get closer to the pink haired field hockey captain.

"Incest is illegal you know," she snorted and grinned mockingly at the Heat's captain. Neji narrowed his pale eyes and glared into her emerald ones, to which she rolled hers and turned away.

"Hinata was offered a spot on our team" Sasuke stated in defence of their captain while also glaring deathly at the girl.

"What? Your management offered a spot to a girl? And she's his cousin no less?" she scoffed, "aren't there rules against this?"

"Nope!" Naruto chimed, "you should meet her Sakura! She's an amazing goalie!"

She snorted arrogantly and rolled her emerald eyes, "yea, right. No thanks, I've got better things to do."

"Good then, because even if you wanted to see her play, you wouldn't be able to" Kiba added from his place across the table, "she declined the offer."

"That's good, she knows her place" Sakura smirked, "I'd say she's a smart cookie but I'd probably be getting ahead of myself."

Sasuke frowned and opted to pull out a book from his bag to read instead of listening to the supercilious babbling mouth.

"There's still a week until the deadline" Chouji stopped briefly to munch on his food, "she can still accept it."

"And she will… now could you be a bit quieter" Shikamaru muttered as he had his head propped up on a pile of books.

"How are you so sure?" Sakura snapped.

Shikamaru lifted his head up and eyed the girl with half-lidded eyes, "troublesome… forget I said anything."

Self-satisfied, the pink haired girl smirked and turned her attention to the raven haired boy on her left, "Sasuke, you're coming to watch my game tonight right?"

Sasuke lifted his head from the book he was reading and narrowed his eyes at her, in the corner of his obsidian orbs he saw Shino's girlfriend look up and lean over the table.

"I'll go Sakura!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically, "I'm sure I can convince the bastard to come too."

"Aw, thanks Naruto" she smiled sweetly at the blonde and he felt his insides melt, "I hope you all will come and cheer us on too."

Neji snorted at her phoney appearance, which earned him curious glances from his teammates and a knowing smirk from the Uchiha.

"Captain, care to divulge?" Shino referred to Neji's derisive snort while his brunette girlfriend giggled at the underlying malice towards the pink haired girl.

"No" Neji unclasped the lid of his water bottle and took a deep swig before continuing. "I'm actually going to Hinata's game tonight."

It was too slight for anyone to notice but at the mention of that, Sasuke's head tilted just enough to better hear the conversation.

"Your lovely cousin is playing tonight?" Lee asked with sparkles of anticipation in his eyes.

Neji nodded, "her team is playing Iwa High School for the championship."

"Well, it looks like there'll be an interesting game to watch after all" Shino said and smirked when he saw Sakura's face contort, "I think I'll come."

"I as well" Lee added as he pumped his fist.

"We're in" Chouji joined in and pointed between himself and Shikamaru.

Neji nodded with a smile and turned to the remaining players at the table.

"I've a got a date" Kiba said as he winked at the girl to his side.

"What?" Sakura cut in, "but you guys should support your school's teams, not some public school's hockey team just because she's your captain's cousin."

"It's okay Sakura, I'm going to your game" Naruto reassured the now livid girl, "and Sasuke too, right bastard?"

The Uchiha turned to the pink haired girl and smirked amusedly, "I think I'd rather watch Hinata."

"Ugh!" Sakura huffed and pushed her chair out, "fine! You know what? I don't care."

She stormed out of the dining hall and there were a few chuckles from the table she had previously occupied, "great job ass! You know how important it is to her to have you and me at her games" Naruto scolded as he packed his things and chased after her.

"So, it's a plan then. We go to the high school girls' hockey final tonight" Shino stated.

* * *

Temari was the last of the four girls to finish her meal at the diner a few blocks from their school. Hinata took a sip of her drink before lacing her fingers together in her lap and leaning back in the booth. This was part of the girls' pre-game ritual or otherwise known as the pre-game meal. Their final championship game was a 6:30PM start and so they were instructed to meet at 4PM to dress and go over any last minute details. They had been dismissed from school an hour early so that they could grab a proper meal before meeting up.

"That was good" Ino let out a sated sigh as she pushed her plate away.

Hinata nodded in agreement and reached for her bag to pull out her wallet but was interrupted.

"Whoa, this is on me" the dirty blonde waved for Hinata to put her wallet away, "consider it a pre-celebratory dinner."

"Being cocky never did anyone any good" TenTen slapped Temari's upper arm, "but thanks for dinner!"

"Yea, thanks Tem!" Ino said happily.

"Are you sure?" Hinata kept hold of her wallet, "I could split it with you."

"I know your family's rich and all that, but let me get this okay?" she smiled genuinely at Hinata.

"Alright" Hinata nodded and put her wallet away, "thank you for an excellent dinner Temari."

"No problem!" she stated while putting the appropriate amount of money down, "we should hurry. It's almost four."

"Yea! Let's go get crowned champions!" TenTen cheered eagerly as she led Temari out of their side of the booth.

The girls exited the diner together and stepped out into the crisp late winter air accompanied by a brilliantly bright sun.

"Oh by the way _sunshine_," Temari turned around once they had exited the diner and back-pedalled, "Gaara and Kankuro wish you good luck."

"O-oh" Hinata smiled with a gentle nod and felt a weak blush dress her cheeks.

"Just her? Or all of us?" Ino raised an eyebrow.

"I believe their words were, 'tell sunshine that we wish her good luck. Tell hairball not to kill anyone and oinkers not to get too upset when Iwa's coach has nicer hair' Yes, I believe that's what they said" Temari held a finger to her lip thoughtfully.

"When did I turn into hairball?" TenTen pursed her lips, "I think I like bunbun better."

Temari shrugged, "Kankuro thought he was so brilliant when he came up with that last night."

"OINKERS?!" Ino stopped and stomped her feet, "I'm oinkers?! Hinata gets sunshine and I'm oinkers!"

The girls laughed at Ino's spout.

"Seriously, when do they play Konoha?!" she stomped her feet some more, "I'm going to give Mr. Nick-Namer the biggest beat down ever."

"Mr. Nick-Namer would be… Kankuro?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Of course" TenTen skipped up to Temari and back-pedalled beside her while Ino and Hinata walked side by side, "only he comes up with stupid names, right?" she turned the boys' sister, "didn't Gaara come up with sunshine?"

Temari nodded, "sunshine is courtesy of Gaara while hairball and oinkers is all Kankuro."

Ino let out a deep growl as her mind pictured the various ways of maiming the puppet collector.

"Hey!" a couple of girls jetted across the school's field, "hurry up! Anko's already there!"

Temari and TenTen stopped, their heads turning to look at each other, "race?" TenTen offered.

"On your mark… ready… set" the two turned towards their home arena and got ready, "go!" Temari shouted as they sprinted off.

"Let's go Hina!" Ino gave Hinata a quick yank on her sleeve before bolting in the direction the others had gone. The Hyuuga heiress laughed before breaking out into a sprint.

When Ino and Hinata finally reached the front doors, Temari and TenTen were already in. The dirty blonde was leaning against a pillar while catching her breath; TenTen was doing a victory dance.

"Come on, we better go get changed and warmed up" Ino skipped away from the group, towards the dressing room. They all followed behind the platinum blonde and into the bustling room.

The girls changed into shorts and sweat wicking shirts for their warm up, which consisted of stretching and kicking around a soccer ball. The group of around a dozen girls headed to an open area of the arena and formed a circle, kicking and hitting the ball with various parts of their bodies except their hands. The ball came to Temari and she kicked it expertly over to Hinata who bounced it off her chest and down to her feet where she regained control before sending it to another one of the girls. But the ball went over the girl and careened off the wall before rolling to a stop at a pair of feet.

"Wow, that was a horrible kick" the person balanced the ball atop her foot before kicking it up and catching it, "if that's any indication of how tonight's game will go, then you're done for."

"Yurasu" Temari stepped forward out of the circle and walked up to the redheaded captain of Iwa High's team, "good to see you again… and it'll be even better to beat you again."

The two team's captains glared at each other while the rest of Iwa's team filed through the back entrance.

"Ha, don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself?" Yurasu stepped forward.

"Okay, break it up, yea" a tall male with long blonde hair tied in a high pony tail walked in between the two team captains, "save the explosion for the ice, yea."

Both girls sent the other hard glares before returning to their respective teams. Iwa's team walked off towards their dressing room and the Konoha girls continued their off-ice warm up until Anko came and instructed they join the rest of the team in the room. They were dressed and mentally prepped by 5:30PM and ushered onto the ice for their on-ice warm up.

Hinata took to the net and stretched a bit before getting into position to take the practice shots from her teammates. Fifteen minutes passed and Hinata gave up her net to their backup goalie and went for a skate around their end of the rink while Iwa warmed up on the other. She stopped in front of her bench and spent the rest of the warm up stretching out her limbs.

Near the end of their warm up, the few spectators were starting to fill the seats of the arena. Hinata searched with her pale lavender eyes behind the cage of her mask until she heard someone scream her name. She whipped around on her skates and spotted her little sister seated at the bottom row, beside Iwa's penalty box. Hanabi had probably chosen that specific seat with the intention of getting to whichever Iwa player was unfortunate enough to get sent to the 'sin bin.' She was glad that her team had seeded higher in the rankings than Iwa, otherwise they'd have to play at Iwa's rink and her family probably wouldn't have been able to make the trip. Hinata smiled behind her mask as she read the sign Hanabi was waving proudly.

"Hyuuga: Number 1 goalie" Hinata read quietly to herself… and then she nearly fell over when Hanabi flipped the sign over.

"Iwa's coach looks like a girl" Ino read aloud as she skated over and grinned before nudging Hinata, "your sister's spunky! I bet their coach isn't going to be too happy to read that."

"N-no, I don't think so either" Hinata replied as she followed her teammates towards the exit at the end of the ice rink.

All the players stepped off the ice to give way to the Zamboni, walking along the rubber rugs strategically placed in the direction of the teams' respective dressing rooms. The Konoha girls congregated in their room at half an hour to game start. Their coach going over last minute details about plays and strategies they had practiced over the previous week in preparation for the big showdown.

"Remember girls," Anko started, "we're here to win. Not to have fun like some _pansy_ team, so if you're here to have fun, then you better do it right!"

"Oh, this is going to be fun all right" TenTen finished taping up the blade of her stick; a feral glint sparkled in her eyes.

"That's the type of fun I'm talking about!" Anko pointed at the brunette, "I expect to see you hitting hard."

"But I call dibs on Yurasu, Iwa's captain" Temari interrupted as she pointed to TenTen.

"Done!" the one affectionately referred to as 'hairball' replied with a smirk that could rival Sasuke's, "that means I get everyone else."

While Anko praised the girls' enthusiasm, Hinata caught Ino rolling her blue eyes. She stifled a dainty giggle at the thought of TenTen barrelling through every member of the opposition's team. The two senior girls were tough and 'rough around the edges' when it came to facing down another team. Ino on the other hand was a finesse player, one to sidestep hits instead of taking them head on. The platinum blonde had enviable speed and a sharp mind for the game, the team's set-up man if you could say that. She got plays started and made sure the puck went to the right people. The Hyuuga goalie was in good company with these three girls, two to protect her from any goal crease invaders and one to score, which meant all she needed to do, was keep the goals out of their end.

"Let's go out there and play our hearts out!" Anko stopped her pacing and looked all her players in the eye, "hit hard, play hard, and never let up! I want to see your legs pumping like you've been holding nature's call for a millennia and you've just found the toilet!" there were a few scattered laughs across the room. "And Hinata, remember what we practiced with the lead passes."

The Hyuuga heiress smiled and nodded affirmatively.

There was a knock on the door and a teenage boy popped his head in, "seven minutes to game time, you should head out now."

The girls cheered loudly and went about putting on their gloves and helmets before grabbing their sticks and heading out. The Konoha team was the first to hit the ice to the meek chants of a near empty arena, with most spectators being family and friends. The players skated to their end of the rink, doing laps around their zone as Iwa's team made their appearance. Hinata immediately went to her net and dropped the water bottle atop it before proceeding to scrape away at the surface with her skates as a means to better the traction. She swept away the scraped ice with her stick and then practiced moving side to side and then getting down and up. The officials took their positions around the ice and blew the whistle once to signal the impending start. The extra players cleared off the ice and onto the benches, leaving five players on each side, not including the goalies.

Starting to feel the pressure of the game hit her as the referee went over some ground rules with the captains, Hinata turned to search for her family. She found them seated where they had been before. Her parents smiled proudly and Hanabi waved her sign fervently while jumping up and down… a glance to Iwa's bench showed that their coach wasn't too impressed with the sign. Turning back to the pale-eyed family, Hinata took note of her cousin's absence. She pursed her lips, he rarely attended her games because of his own schedule but he had no game today and promised to attend. She shrugged it off as tardiness and returned her attention to the game at hand as the players lined up for the opening face-off. What her pale eyes failed to notice was the group of boys situated behind her net, occupying the top two rows.

The ref turned and pointed at her, she nodded to confirm that she was ready. Then with one release of a hand the puck dropped down between TenTen and one of Iwa's players. The brunette loss the face-off and watched as the rubber disk sped back to land swiftly on the stick of another of Iwa's players.

TenTen's ears perked as she heard a growl and she beamed as her eyes caught sight Temari skating towards the player with the puck, which also happen to be Iwa's redheaded captain. Yurasu smirked arrogantly as the dirty blonde neared; passing the puck up to another one of her players she took Temari's hit head on. The two fell to a heap but quickly got back up.

Iwa's player skated into Hinata's end and was met by Konoha's defence. The girl was pushed up against the boards and shoved repeatedly as the two battled for possession of the puck. Unbeknownst to both of them, it popped out near the blue line as Iwa's captain sped in while still being chased by Temari. The opposition player picked it up easily and out skated the dirty blonde. Hinata lined up, her eyes watching every facet of the girl's movements. In a split second the puck was off and speeding towards her and so she caught it effortlessly in her glove hand to a few sporadic claps around the arena. She eyed her players as they regrouped and Iwa's players prepared for the attack.

"Hinata" she heard Ino call as the platinum blonde skated out from behind her goal and up the side.

Hinata dropped the puck down to her stick and sent it the few metres to where Ino was standing at the face-off circle, just in time to avoid the ref's whistle of a dead play. The platinum blonde skated up with her linemates and trailed by her defensemen. Ino hit the offensive blue line where a player was already there and waiting, so she dumped the puck before sidestepping the player intricately enough to throw her off. Ino chased the puck into the corner boards and whipped it back to an awaiting Temari who had just battled off one of the other players. A quick slap shot sent the puck clear over the goalie's head and into the high glass. The piece of frozen rubber bounced off and rolled on its side to the left side of Iwa's goalie. Eyes widened as all girls in the surrounding area made to reach it before the others did, but it was jumped on first by the goalie.

"No you don't!" TenTen screeched and stuck her stick roughly under the goalie's hands in an attempt to pry the puck out and she did so successfully as the black rubber came out and caught up in the feet surrounding the goal crease. It was a mess as Iwa players dropped to cover it and Konoha players lunged and speared the areas the puck had last been spotted.

"Whistle! Whistle!" one of Iwa's defensemen yelled as she was sprawled in front of her goaltender.

"Play's not dead" the referee shook her head as she stood behind the goal and watched intently as no one noticed the puck squeak out. With the goalie down and her defensemen huddled to cover the general vicinity they believed the puck resided and Konoha's offensive players stabbing and jabbing the huddled mass, no one took note of the puck sitting idly a foot to the right of the mound… except for one of Konoha's defensemen.

She bit her lip and pumped her feet with all her might, hoping that she'd be able to get to the puck without having to alert anyone of its whereabouts. One solid tap of her stick sent the puck into the unguarded net. The ref pointed with a hand to indicate the goal, Iwa's team eyed the puck in horror and disbelief and Konoha's girls left the mound of Iwa players to wonder how the puck had gone unnoticed to them, as they skated to congratulate their defensemen. The five girls hugged happily before departing and skating in a line across their bench to high five the rest of the players and then Hinata who waited for the train to celebrate the opening goal.

The first goal was quick, within five minutes of the face-off. It was not pretty, but it was a goal nonetheless and they'd take it for what it was worth. Minutes into the game and they were already leading… quite the start to the championship game.

* * *

**Beta read by:** the lovely **lil.ramen.lover**, who again did an awesome job and gets miso ramen! yummers!

**A/N:** Um… there you have it, the highly anticipated debut of Sakura. Did you like her? or more accurately, did you dislike her? Originally I was going to have the entire game in one whole chapter but I couldn't resist debuting Sakura, which left little room for the game, so it'll be completed next chapter with some interesting Sasuhina drama. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to the outcome and score? Kiba sounds like a jerk but don't hate him, he's just kind of wild and animalistic. It's getting interesting… by the way, this chapter is titled Battle. I plan to title the continuation chapter War.

**Thanks** to all those who reviewed! You make me a happy author. And, I don't mind long reviews, I adore them! If I wasn't such a lazy bum, I'd answer all your reviews personally, but alas... I'm laaaaazy. Err... what is Hinata the heiress to? Will be mentioned in passing later on or I might write a scene, not sure yet.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you liked it and please do review! Have a nice weekend!


	6. War

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 6: War**

It wasn't all that impressive and the rest of his teammates seemed to agree. Even from the other side of the rink Sasuke had caught sight of the puck sitting to the side of the scramble. A bat would have spotted that puck before any of the Iwa players did, or the Konoha players for that matter. They were lucky that their one uninvolved player had the sense to look elsewhere for the black disk. All in all, the opening goal was a result of mayhem and panic. There was no intelligible evidence that a play was thought out and executed, it was pure luck as far as Sasuke was concerned. He just hoped the game got better, otherwise he'd be forced to lump the top two high school girls' hockey teams into league with the little atom players. Maybe five year olds could pull off more provocative plays than these girls.

He couldn't say much for Hinata's first save either. It was a good save, square in her glove, but then again, her vision wasn't obscured and the player had shot from a distance far enough for the Hyuuga heiress to catch the puck with perfect precision. It was good for her though, because if she were unlucky enough to miss that shot, then Sasuke's perception of the timid girl would have dropped down to the deep depths of the Earth's core.

Sasuke stretched his long legs and crossed them over at his ankles before shifting uncomfortably on the hard wooden benches. After the first goal, the next seven minutes went by with little mishap on either end. Hinata had faced two more shots, one easily covered up but the other one caused for a little more chaos as the puck had bounced off her blocker and resulted in a massive rebound. Luckily for Konoha, the Iwa player that got to the puck first had caught an edge on her skate and fell over in an embarrassed heap.

There were a few notable bone-crunching hits thrown by Neji's girlfriend, earning the Hyuuga various compliments for his choice in women. It wasn't until halfway through the first period that things started to pick up. One of Iwa's players was called on a blatant slash to one of Konoha's players and so was sent to the penalty box to face the wrath of a spunky Hyuuga Hanabi, who proceeded to taunt the Iwa player with various names and insinuations about their coach, only to be pulled away by her parents and scolded.

A whistle was blown to signal the impending resumption of play. The top line for Konoha stepped onto the ice to take the face-off just outside Iwa's blue line. One puck drop followed by a quick slash by both players taking the face-off, and the puck was won cleanly by TenTen who directed it back to land on Temari's stick. The dirty blonde lifted her stick up and then forced it down in a swift follow-through that sent the puck deep into their offensive zone. It bounded off the corner boards to the right of Iwa's goalie and shot across the width of the rink and behind the net to roll along the sideboards. Two players, each from the opposing team, hit the boards with a perceptible crash as they battled each other. The Konoha player managed to place her skate's blade on the puck and kick it back to her fellow defensemen who passed it over to the platinum blonde standing at the other side of the blue line.

That move forced Iwa to regroup and get into a defensive position, as Konoha was one man up on them. TenTen made her way to the front of the net to screen the goalie… and well, get into a little shoving match with Iwa's defensemen.

Ino passed it back to the defensemen so she could skate deeper into the zone and let their defensive players reclaim their spots along the blue line. The Konoha defensemen took a shot that was blocked off a skate and bounced back to the blue line, but they managed to keep it inside and start cycling. A few passes amongst themselves and forcing Iwa to chase them left the Iwa players tired and ready for a line change, but Konoha wasn't going to let up.

At the sound of a howl in front of the net, all eyes drew to TenTen who had thrown the Iwa player down to the ice. Temari then received a perfect tape-to-tape pass to which she whipped in the direction of the goalie. It was a low shot that never left the sheen ice surface, no need to get fancy when Iwa's goalie couldn't see. TenTen smiled brightly and jumped off her feet while her stick was strategically placed to deflect the puck 'five hole.' Once the rubber disk touched TenTen's stick, it changed direction just enough to whiz through the goalie's open legs.

The ref pointed her arm decisively at the goal and Iwa's players skated to their bench with bowed heads. Their coach lectured them about what they had done wrong while spewing endless streams of 'crash, bang, kaboom, explosion' and every other synonym and onomatopoeia imaginable as emphasis of what he wanted done.

Konoha's girls celebrated their second goal of the period with a group hug followed by a parade across the bench and then down to Hinata.

Neji, who sat one seat in on the second top row, tried to resist the smile that threatened to betray his usually stoic demeanour while he received a few nudges and pats on the back for TenTen's goal. Sasuke's face remained indifferent, though inwardly he was a tad more animated. The second goal was several times more rousing than its predecessor. The girls did a fine job at cycling and it was an impressive deflection on the part of the Hyuuga prodigy's girlfriend. But in the end, Sasuke figured it didn't really matter, he wasn't here to watch the teams after all. More specifically, he was here to ascertain the adeptness of a certain Hyuuga goalie… or lack thereof, depending on how the night went.

"That was a beautiful deflection!" Lee gushed to Neji.

"It was impressive" Shikamaru commented from behind the Hyuuga and Uchiha.

Shino cleared his throat from beside Neji to get everyone's attention, "Neji" he pointed to the benches.

The Hyuuga prodigy adjusted his line of sight to fall on the area Shino had motioned to. He frowned. TenTen and one of Iwa's players were arguing, screaming across the two benches, and it didn't go unnoticed by the referee, which delayed the restart of play to give them warnings. They essentially said, "zip it or you're out of the game" which immediately resulted in both players pulling out of the war of words.

Chouji chuckled, "imagine getting tossed from the game for an unsportsmanlike misconduct before the first period was out."

"Ask Kiba, he'd know" Neji said with a smirk at the reminiscent memory of the dog lover getting thrown out of a game two minutes in for colourfully arguing with the ref.

"The womanizer is too busy wooing whichever lucky girl is fortunate enough to be graced with his presence this week" a long haired, brunette girl added as she stepped over Sasuke's legs and brushed pass Neji to take the empty spot beside Shino. "Still, I'm surprised at the showing for this game" she twisted around to eye the group, "three quarters of a team of twenty."

"Depending on how things go before the trade deadline," Shino started, "most of us have a vested interest in how this game plays out."

"You're right…" a sigh escaped her lips before she continued, " I just wonder how she feels about all of you being here after she declined your offer," she pursed her lips thoughtfully and then smiled up to the bug loving hockey player.

"She hasn't looked up here yet," Sasuke's voice cut through the air. "She doesn't know we're here".

Neji tilted his head to his assistant captain and quirked an eyebrow, "you've been keeping track of where my cousin looks?"

"Hn"

* * *

Hinata squeezed the soft plastic water bottle and relished in the sensation of the cool water hitting her face. She took two deep gulps before placing the bottle atop her net and pulling down her mask to rest firmly over her head. Tilting her head upwards, her eyes squinted slightly to focus on the scoreboard that featured, "Home - 2" and "Away - 0" with 2:48 remaining on the clock for the first period. She smiled and got into position for the face-off to her right side. The rest of the players skated into their respective positions, Ino giving Hinata two taps on her goal pads as she passed by, a smile gleaming behind her caged helmet.

"I want to see a goal… oinkers" Hinata smiled back at the platinum blonde.

"Oinkers…" Ino shook her head, "look what Kankuro has done to my sweet, precious Hinata."

Ino bent down beside an opposing Iwa player and to TenTen's left. The puck was dropped and neither player won the face-off cleanly. Sticks swatted and feet scrambled. The black disk was batted into the corner of Konoha's defensive zone followed by a defender and an Iwa offensive player. They pushed and shoved to gain whatever advantage they could while their feet kicked in an attempt to gain possession of the puck. In the end, the Konoha defender lost the battle as well as the puck, which was sent out front and then flipped up by Iwa's captain on a wicked wrist shot. Hinata pushed off her right leg and slid across her goal crease just in time to shoot her glove hand up to catch the puck for a remarkable save.

She blinked behind the shiny cage of her mask when TenTen came barrelling into her field of vision and took out Iwa's redheaded captain with a bone shattering check. A few words of inappropriate accusations and foul name-calling were the last things heard by the Hyuuga heiress before Ino's voice rang in her ears.

"Pass Hinata!" Ino yelled while speeding out from behind Hinata's net. _This is familiar_, Hinata thought. The last time they started a play with Hinata passing to Ino, they scored.

So she dropped the puck and passed it up to the top of the left face-off circle, doing her best to make sure it didn't near any of the Iwa players back-skating out of the zone. Ino picked it off and raced out of her zone. Breaking into the neutral, she made note of her linemates following closely behind. The platinum blonde was met at the redline by one of Iwa's larger defensemen. She gritted her teeth and mentally envisioned all the plays and intricate footwork she could pull off under the strained circumstances. Finally settling on one, she pulled the puck to her right as well as balancing most of her weight on her right leg, though her left leg was a good distance apart from its counterpart. Ino waited for the precise moment that the Iwa defender switched her position to better face the platinum blonde… assuming she tried to go inside. When Ino was satisfied that she could bypass the defender, she pulled the puck back between her legs and flicked it pass the player before shifting her own weight to skate through the outside, leaving the Iwa defender wondering what had just happened.

She picked up the puck, her bright blue eyes portraying the image of her linemates just passing the redline as she was soon approaching Iwa's goalie. The goalie came out and cut away at the angle Ino had to shoot, so in a split second, Ino made the choice to wait for support to come. She continued gliding in while the goalie shifted and faced her the entire time, waiting for the shot. Catching sight of TenTen blazing in with an Iwa defender, Ino pumped her legs until she was at the corner boards and the goalie was still facing her and not paying attention to the incoming players. Ino smiled and shot the puck pass the goalie's inside, between the padded leg and red goal post. The rubber disked slid through the goal crease and then right through the two incoming players who had each other's sticks held up. Behind the pair appeared Temari and luckily, she was alone and free to take a shot at the 'yawning cage.'

One leap back into goal by the goalie and one slap shot left the arena occupants on the edge of their seats. Hinata whipped her head up to the clock and read two seconds left and then she turned back to see the ref signal another goal. The whistle was blown and Konoha girls celebrated their third goal of the game.

They skated across their bench for the third time and then met the Hyuuga heiress with a few high fives and hugs.

"Let's finish this off," Temari bellowed and the rest of her team cheered. They lined up for the face-off, which wasn't really won by either team. The puck was dropped but not claimed as the players waited for the clock to rundown the two remaining seconds.

The buzzer went, signalling the end of the first period. Konoha's team skated through the exit at the end of the rink first, seeing as it was at their end. Their faces adorned with polished grins while Iwa skated off with hung heads and clenched jaws.

Hinata was the first to enter the dressing room and she went straight to her stall. The rest of the team filed in after her with hoots and howls that would have made someone new to the sport of hockey think they had already won. But no, that was certainly not the case, though they were three goals up in only the first period and the chances of winning were in their favour.

She removed her goalie mask and wiped away the excess sweat and water with a crisp white towel while Anko barked out more detailed instructions to a few of the girls. The dark haired coach made to reiterate that they not get cocky about the score and that if they let up then Iwa would come back.

"Don't worry coach!" one of the younger girls yelled reassuringly, "we're not going to give up a three goal lead, right girls?!"

"Yea!" "Damn right!" the voices mingled and chorused determinedly.

"That's what I like to hear" Anko yelled over the various voices, "rest up girls, ten more minutes and were back on the ice."

Their coach disappeared through the door like she always seemed to do, not that anyone really knew where she went… or cared much for that matter. The rest of the players loitered about in the room, talking animatedly about notable plays and players from the game so far.

A few of the voices across the room floated over to the area the Hyuuga heiress resided. It piqued her interest, hearing the mention of 'Konoha Heat' that is. It was brushed off, though curiosity did kill the cat after all. Hinata turned to her friends seated at the stalls to her left. She had the very last and largest stall, the one situated in the corner, just where she liked it.

"TenTen" she said hesitantly, not really wanting to interrupt the brunette's argument with the team's captain about who took out more players, "umm… have you seen Neji?"

TenTen turned to the indigo haired goalie and smiled brightly, "yea, he was up behind your goal."

"Oh" she mentally smacked herself. She hadn't even thought to look up there… wait… "why is he up _there_?"

"Didn't you see Hinata?!" another girl screeched from the other side.

"No" Hinata mildly shook her head.

"Practically the entire Konoha Heat team is here watching us!" one girl screamed excitedly and Hinata's breath caught.

"Wh-what?" her eyes widened and her face paled a lighter shade than it already was, if that was possible, "wh-who?" she swallowed hard.

"Neji's there of course" Ino's face contorted pensively, "I saw Uchiha, Aburame, Lee, Nara, Akimichi… uh… most of the team, but I didn't see Uzumaki."

"Can't forget their coach too" Temari chimed, "and a few other older people."

"U… U-Uchiha?" Hinata stammered and her lavender eyes were wide.

"Yea, isn't it awesome that nearly the entire team came to watch?!" one of the team's defender's voiced happily.

Hinata felt herself shrink in her equipment and her breaths grew shallow and rapid alongside the erratic pulsations of her heart. Her teammates continued to chatter cheerfully, various comments about their guests and a few hormone induced mentions of a certain raven-haired hockey player made Hinata cringe.

_What are they doing here?_ She racked her mind for answers. _I already said I didn't want to play for them!_ She mentally screamed. _Why are they here?!... Neji! Neji brought them! Agh!... I can't handle this!_ Her head felt light.

"Hinata?" Ino's soft voice pulled her from her anxious trance, "are you feeling alright?"

Her pale lavender orbs blinked confusedly and then came a meek nod. She saw Ino acknowledge the nod before turning back to TenTen and Temari. Hinata drew in a deep breath and then began pacing in her little corner. Reason and logic took over, well, biased reason and logic. She had declined their offer, so whatever reason was presented for them being at the game could not be related to her. They were not here to pester her to join. Just like Sasuke was not here to taunt or try to hurt her. They, the Konoha Heat, were just here to take in the high school girls' championship game and it was as simple as that.

Feeling a bit more relieved, Hinata stopped her pacing and reclaimed her seat. Anko appeared seconds later to usher the team back for the second period.

* * *

Sasuke walked beside his captain and good friend. His hands firmly shoved in his pockets and a bored look dressed his face. They reached the section and the Hyuuga prodigy led them down the steps first.

"Neji!" a girl of about thirteen or fourteen, which Sasuke figured was Hinata's sister, ran up to the Hyuuga prodigy, "can I borrow five bucks?"

"That's how you greet me?" Neji furrowed his brows, "ask auntie and uncle for money."

"They're teaching me the importance of 'budgeting'," she air quoted the last word and rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't asking me for money defeat the whole purpose of the lesson?" She didn't answer but crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her feet impatiently. "Fine" Neji pulled out a five-dollar bill from his pocket, to which she grabbed briskly and ran up the stairs.

Sasuke followed Neji down to the bottom row and with a polite bow he greeted Hinata's parents.

"Come to sit with us?" Hiashi's deep voice sounded lightly.

"Hinata plays this end next" Neji shrugged, "thought we'd get a better view from here."

Hiashi nodded in understanding and his wife spoke, "aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Right, this is Sasuke" he motioned to his assistant captain beside him, "Sasuke, my uncle and aunt, Hinata's parents."

"Nice to meet you" she replied sweetly.

"Likewise" Sasuke forced a weak smile.

"It's starting!" Hanabi bolted down the steps and nearly pounced into her seat, a big bag of candy in hand, "I saw Hinata leading her team out on the other side."

* * *

Hinata took a deep breath in and stepped onto the ice. She managed to skate about half of the length of the ice before curiosity got the best of her and she twisted her head to find the Heat team where the girls had said they were. A head of silver hair made her shudder. Their coach and assistant coach had even come to watch the game. Oh and was that… Sarutobi Asuma and… Maito Gai… and Yuuhi Kurenai? Her legs wobbled underneath her.

Okay, so now, all the reassuring reasons she had coined up earlier to relieve her anxiety were thrown out the window. If the team was just here to watch the game for their own pleasure, then they certainly would not have brought their two top scouts and the team's tutor. She absently wondered if the adults were going to gang up on her and try to entice her into joining the team. Oh boy, she wasn't feeling too good.

A nudge at her side brought her back down to Earth. Temari and TenTen skated by with vibrant smiles. Hinata couldn't help but smile back. Doing her best to calm her breathing, she skated into her net and completed her usual routine before looking for her family.

They smiled. Hanabi waved furiously while a few bright gummy worms hung from her mouth. Neji nodded. Sasuke smirked. Her stomach plummeted. _Shit._

The always familiar whistle was blown and the players exited the ice, except for the starting line. They lined up along the redline. Her heart was pounding. The puck was dropped and swiped at. She felt weak on her legs… under Sasuke's black glare. TenTen won the draw. A bead of sweat trickled down as her lavender irises followed the play up to the other end.

Temari was fighting alongside Iwa's captain on the sideboards to the left of the goalie. The puck was pushed out near the blueline where a defender from each team met and continued the war along the boards. Konoha's defensemen were of a lower calibre than Iwa, which led to a breakout. The Konoha defender was easily pushed off the puck and Iwa led into Hinata's end on a 2-on-1. The lone Konoha defender tried the take away the passing lane with her stick. Hinata came out to cut down the angle, but it was hard with two players. In the briefest of moments, she took the risk of glancing over to the side and saw Sasuke interlace his fingers under his chin and lean forward, his obsidian eyes piercing her being.

The pass was made, from one side to the other. Hinata slid across her blue painted crease as the puck was shot. She kicked her right goal pad out and prevented the goal, then her eyes widened. _Rebound! _She mentally berated her faulty play. The rubber disk bounced back to the Iwa player who frantically batted at it again and it bounced of Hinata's pads for the second time, but this time the player had enough sense to pass it to the player waiting on the other side. Hinata's defender dropped down to try and assist the Hyuuga goalie, but it proved useless as Hinata leaned back and sprawled out just a little too late as the puck slid across the red goal line. A red light went off and the referee indicated the goal.

"It's fine, we're still up by two goals" her defender reassured her.

"Mm" Hinata nodded and reluctantly pulled herself up to rest on her knees, her pads folded underneath her. She breathed in deep, her teammates were giving her sad smiles, her family looked sympathetic, and Sasuke was… scowling? She blinked, he _was_ scowling, but when their eyes met the scowl turned into an arrogant smirk. He was an oddity, capable of scaring her and confusing her all at once and yet still holding the respect of one of the most important people in her life, Neji, not to mention most of the city's hockey fans.

She watched on with gritted teeth as Iwa celebrated their first goal of the game. "It was a good try" Ino stopped in front of her and bent down, "we're still doing well."

"Y-yea" she stuttered and Ino frowned. She hated it when Hinata stuttered like that. Sure, Hinata had only been part of their small circle of friends for just over a year but Ino knew the indigo haired beauty better than anyone else did, and she knew that Hinata was blaming herself solely for the turn of events.

"Come on, get up" the platinum blonde urged the Hyuuga heiress with a few jabs of her hockey stick, "we still need to get crowned champions!"

Hinata smiled gratefully at her blonde friend and stood up with a genuine smile, "y-you're right."

"Of course!" Ino beamed and skated off to the bench.

Hinata slowed her breathing and recomposed herself. The goal wasn't all _that_ bad, she had wavered slightly in her rebound control but that was it and it could be fixed.

Play resumed at centre ice with the clock at 18:39, the goal came with only a little over a minute of the second period played. To say she was disappointed was an understatement.

The puck dropped and was won cleanly by Iwa's player, no surprise there, TenTen was off her shift and she was their best faceoff man… err… woman.

Approximately seven minutes of play passed, back and forth between one end and then to the other. A couple of shots were exchanged by both teams. Hinata managed two easy saves, the other attempts either went wide or missed the general vicinity of her goal area altogether. At the halfway mark of the period, Temari took a hard check from one of Iwa's larger defenders. The check came full with an elbow, which elicited a whistle and another Iwa player being sent to face Hyuuga Hanabi and her smart mouth comments. This was their chance, they had lost one goal too soon into the period and it was time to make up for it.

The face-off was just outside Iwa's zone, to their goalie's right and Konoha's top line was back on the ice and revving to go. It was won by TenTen who managed to dump it into the zone. Temari was the first to hit the corner boards and with a swift tap the puck skidded across the back end and ricocheted off the other corner board to be picked up by Ino. The girls cycled expertly, passing from sideboards to blueline to other sideboards and so forth. They shot the puck when shooting lanes cleared, when Iwa was out of position, or when Iwa's goalie was too slow to catch on to the passes. Unfortunately, no goals were scored but for the most part they were able to keep possession until just over a minute of the two minute minor penalty.

A pass along the blueline to the sideboards was intercepted and easily cleared down the length of the rink. Hinata came out about a metre from her goal to stop it. Iwa's players changed lines to give the previous one a rest. Konoha regrouped behind Hinata and sped out of the zone, penetrating the neutral zone with little effort. A few of the Heat players edged forward in their seats when Ino didn't do the usual 'dump and chase', she instead kept the puck on her stick and skated wide on the outside to avoid the defensemen. A drop pass between her legs elicited a few interested gasps around the arena; it was then picked up by a trailing TenTen who then sent a slap shot full force to the goalie.

"Hinata!" she heard her name and turned to look at her family, "clock!" Neji yelled.

Hinata whipped her head up and saw one second remaining on the penalty. She then looked back to the play where TenTen's shot bounced off the goalie's pad distinctively and came to a halt on an Iwa player's stick. That player sent it up the middle of the ice's width, into the neutral zone just as Iwa's penalized player stepped out of the penalty box. Hinata's heart skipped a beat when the player picked up the puck and skated in alone. She could feel it, the many eyes that were all centred on her and judging, especially certain onyx irises.

The player crossed the blueline and Hinata came out to cut the angle down as usual. Then her mind went blank and she tried a poke check and miserably missed the puck, losing her positioning at the same time. She tried to hobble back. The player deeked, pulling the puck back and then sidestepping the Hyuuga heiress to come face with an open net. The red light went off and Iwa's bench celebrated.

She fell down to the cold ice, sprawled out and unmoving. Her heart ached. _The first goal was my fault, I let out that huge rebound_, her lip quivered. _The second goal was my fault, I didn't warn them_. Usually she was always on top of things. She would always remember to bang her stick on the ice to signal that the penalized player was returning, that way, things like this never happened.

That goal left the already quiet audience deflated. Her family sent her forced smiles. Sasuke just glared at her, a small upturn on the corner of his lips was evident… and that settled it, he had come for the sole purpose of mocking her.

Hinata sighed and pulled herself up. A glance to the scoreboard and there was just over five minutes left of the second period. She glided to her net with one pump of her leg just as her friends drifted by.

"How're you holding up?" Temari slowed to a stop.

"I'm f-fine" Hinata fought back the tremor rippling through her.

The three girls sent each other worried looks, "you're over-thinking things Hinata, it's not like you" TenTen placed a gentle hand of the Hyuuga's shoulder, "what's wrong?"

Tears struggled relentlessly to surface, but she willed them away. Her mouth opened and closed as she mentally writhed; attempting to find the words necessary to express the strain she was feeling. Ideally, she wanted skate over to the Uchiha and tell him to leave, along with the rest of his damned team. But really, that wasn't an option.

"It's n-nothing" she shook her head.

"Alright" Temari and TenTen skated off to the bench as players were preparing to take the face-off.

Ino didn't leave, she just stood there, and stared at Hinata with her sweet sky blue eyes, "for the record, I don't believe you and you're going to tell me everything later."

Hinata couldn't resist the smile that emerged, "deal." She loved Ino; the blonde bombshell knew her so well… _too_ well.

"Good," Ino returned the smile and followed after her linemates.

Play resumed with the face-off and Konoha high school girls' team was only up 3-2, how unfortunate. The face-off was won by one of Konoha's forwards. They were resilient in their battle and were coming back with a vengeance, literally pelting Iwa's goalie with shot after shot after shot, and it wasn't even Konoha's first line on the ice. Hinata smiled and the few spectators, including Konoha Heat players, cheered and clapped in response to the girls' efforts. Lee especially, he spewed about something wondrous youth, or something rather.

It continued like that until about a minute a half left of the second. Iwa's goalie covered up an eye-catching 'tic-tac-toe' passing play, where Konoha's girls pulled off clean and crisp tape-to-tape passes. It was followed by claps and more 'Rock Lee' cheers. That gave the players an opportunity to change lines and so Konoha's top line stepped onto the sheen surface to finish off the second period.

TenTen was in the face-off circle, facing against the player she had argued with earlier, and it resulted in her getting waved out and Ino coming in to take it instead. She won it and whipped it back to one of her defenders at the blueline. They fell into the necessary positions to start cycling, but to their dismay, it didn't work. The defender attempted a pass to the sideboards but it was intercepted by an Iwa player. The puck bounced up and into the Konoha defensemen's skates. She fumbled and swivelled in search of it. Then in one quick burst of speed, Iwa had possession and was skating in on another breakaway. Pass blueline, pass redline, pass blueline… she was coming in fast and Hinata was determined not to mess up again.

Hinata came out but back-skated as the player neared. She waited patiently for the shot, but it never came. Instead, all she saw was a stick appear from behind the player and then it tugged her down. The whistle went immediately and everyone turned to watch the ref motion a hooking call and then she… pointed to centre ice. Hinata felt her heart stop at that very moment. _Oh, crap._

Then the sporadically seated crowd voiced their objections, as well as, to her surprise, most of the Konoha Heat. Neji was kicking at the boards and Hanabi was banging on the glass. Sasuke looked amused. She scanned the ice and found that TenTen was yelling at the player that was supposedly pulled down. Ino and Temari were at the ref's throat.

"She dove!" Temari yelled and Ino nodded fervently in agreement, her sky blue eyes ablaze, "sure, she was hooked but then she dove! It should be coincidental minors!"

The ref shook her head and held up a hand to silence them, "she was hooked down, I saw no dive."

"Bullshit!" Ino roared, "are you blind?!"

"Continue like that and you're out of the game"

"Ugh!" Ino gritted her teeth and opted to skate over to Hinata. She leaned in and pressed the cage of her helmet against the cage of Hinata's mask, "you can do this."

"Y-yea" Hinata breathed in, "th-thanks Ino."

The referee blew her whistle and the rest of the players skated to their respective benches with the exception of one Iwa player. That player skated to centre ice where a puck was placed… for the penalty shot.

There were various boo's around the arena for the bad call and Hanabi was belting out 'three blind mice' at the top of her lungs, a reference to the two linesmen and the referee's inept officiating.

Hinata took deep breaths and attempted to tune out the happenings around her. She concentrated on the one and sole object of importance, the Iwa player taking the penalty shot. Then the whistle went and the Iwa player picked up the puck and sped in on a straight path, slightly more to Hinata's right. The Hyuuga heiress came out and expertly took out the angle without getting caught too far out. The player was about midway between the blueline and the goal line, she leaned to her left and her right leg kicked up. Hinata went down, she had the angle and now all she needed to do was take away the bottom. But the shot never came. Instead the right leg came down and the weight was shifted to the right just before the puck was pulled over and shot into the net on the backhand.

Hinata looked on in awe, it was completely unexpected… so unexpected that she didn't even have the sense to move. The arena was silent, aside from Iwa's cheering. Hinata got to her feet and this time she didn't fight the tears that surfaced. It was useless, she had just blown a 3-0 lead. Her team had worked so hard to secure the lead and she went and tossed away their efforts. Oh, how she hated herself at this very moment. Hinata turned around to her net and bowed her head over crossed arms atop the net. The tears fell and mixed with the water and sweat already inhabiting her face. She heaved deep breaths, her chest expanding and compressing under her equipment. To her left, she knew the Uchiha was smirking like a child indulging his sweet tooth. A few sniffles escaped and she felt a hand on her back.

"Come on" she heard Ino's voice, "you need some rest."

"Wh-what?"

"You need a break, time to rethink, regroup. Come on"

Hinata turned around and looked to her bench. Anko was motioning for her to come and the team's backup goalie was putting on her mask and gloves. She nodded weakly and followed Ino to the bench. Her and the backup goalie switched places as Hinata took the seat at the end of the bench and the backup skated into her goal. Hianta didn't remove her mask. She was ashamed of the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

* * *

Hinata's parents were frowning, while their children were a bit more animated.

"What the hell are you thinking?! Pulling your best goalie for _that_ goal?!" Hanabi shrieked, "she couldn't be faulted for that!"

"Hanabi" Neji called out to her and then shook his head disapprovingly, "sit down."

"No! You should be giving their coach hell too!"

"This is about Hinata not their coach" he uncrossed his arms and stood up just as the buzzer for the second period went off, "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Sasuke pulled his legs in to let Neji pass.

"To talk to Hinata"

"Hn" Sasuke stood up as well. The two hockey stars stared at each other.

"You're coming?" Neji quirked an eyebrow, "I thought you didn't like her."

"Just walk pretty boy" Sasuke had meant it as an insult, but somehow with his apathetic expression, the verbal jab amounted to nothing.

Together, they walked to a narrow flight of stairs and descended the steps. It didn't take long to find the appropriate dressing room, it was the quieter one. And along the way, they had come across a few Iwa players that recognized them and then proceeded to gush about how much they loved them. Sasuke was use to it, but Neji, who was accustomed to less attention because of his relational status, found that his right eye involuntarily twitched.

"Neji!" a girl fully equipped with hockey gear and a Konoha jersey brushed pass them, "looking for TenTen?"

"Hinata actually" he corrected her.

"Oh, I don't know if she's up for visitors" Sasuke and Neji followed the girl towards the dressing room, "you know how she is."

"Yea, a meticulous perfectionist that beats herself for unimportant mistakes" the Hyuuga prodigy added with a slight smile.

"Exactly!" the girl stopped right at the door and turned her head back, "whoa, you've got your little cousin labelled perfectly."

He shrugged and pushed her over the threshold.

"Neji?" TenTen looked up.

"Hey" he walked over to her but stopped when he was about a foot away. She blinked confusedly and he gave her an awkward pat on her shoulder. Somehow, kissing her when she was all wet and sweaty from pummelling the Iwa players wasn't so appealing.

"Hinata?" he asked.

"Over there" TenTen pointed to the corner.

Sasuke's eyes averted to land on the goalie. She was facing the wall with all her equipment still on and her masked head was moving in the slow methodical motion of hitting the wall and then pulling away, only to start all over again.

The Uchiha and Hyuuga stepped around the team's coach, who was individually addressing a few players.

"Hinata" Neji called.

"She can't hear you" Ino looked onto them with tired eyes. When Neji and Sasuke shot her wondering looks, she elaborated, "earphones."

Neji nodded in understanding and nudged at his cousin to get her attention.

"I'm fine" she muttered, but didn't turn around so he kept nudging her. She murmured something he didn't catch.

"Hinata!" Neji leaned into the side of her mask and yelled.

Instantly she whipped around and her pale eyes locked on her cousin, "Neji?"

"What's going on Hina?"

She chewed on her lips and pulled her earphones loose from under her mask, "n-nothing." Her eyes caught sight of Sasuke and the pressure on her lips increased.

"I've never seen you so rattled" Neji continued, "what's wrong?"

Hinata looked between her cousin and the Uchiha, whose smirk was growing more prominent.

"N-nothing" she managed.

"I find that hard to believe" Neji retorted.

"She's weak" Sasuke stated derisively and stepped out from behind Neji, closer to Hinata, "_you're_ weak."

She opened her mouth to argue him but no words came, a glance towards Neji showed that he was a little irritated.

"You are too weak to be a goalie" Sasuke continued, "you bear your team's ambitions on your shoulders yet you caved under the pressure. You let them down at the most pivotal moment of the entire season. You should feel ashamed."

"N-no" her legs were shaking and she could vividly feel the chill that the sweat perspiring on her back, sent through her body. "I a-am n-not w… w-weak!"

"Yea you are" his smirk grew malicious, "and that stutter doesn't help your case either, nor does the mask you're still hiding behind."

"Y-you're wrong!" she raised her voice just enough the catch the room's attention, "I am n-not w-weak!" She cursed herself for stuttering.

"Then prove it" Sasuke took another step into her and bent his face down to look into her eyes.

"Fine" she mustered all the courage and bravery that she could and leaned up to narrow her eyes at him, "on one c-condition."

Sasuke raised a black eyebrow, "hn?"

"You have t-to leave"

His smirk melted to give way to an impassive expression, "fine by me, I've got papers to write anyway."

"G-good!" Hinata shot back and then mentally smacked herself for not coming up with something better.

"Hn" he straightened himself and turned to pace out of the dressing room. He managed a few steps to the door before two hockey sticks came up and crossed in front of him. TenTen held her stick up from her seated position at the stall while Temari held hers from Sasuke's other side.

"Where do you get off saying _those_ words to _our_ goalie?" Temari asked as the entire team narrowed eyes on the Uchiha star.

"Hn" he looked onto the team's captain with bored eyes.

"You know what?!" A girl with long platinum blonde hair stomped up to him, her sky blue eyes were boiling with fury and rage, "you have no damn right to tell her what she is or isn't! You don't know anything about her! You've never come to watch her play, so you know nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Ino seethed.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and stepped forward through the crossed sticks, "I know more than you think, I have every right to say whatever I want to her" under the inexpensive lights of the room, Ino could have sworn she saw his eyes flash red, "and this isn't the first time I've seen her play."

Ino's brows knotted, "what?" she said in a low, harsh tone.

"Nothing" he practically growled before pushing the players aside and storming out of the dressing room.

Neji looked between his cousin and teammate inquisitively. Hinata's shoulders were rising and falling in an attempt to calm herself, and Sasuke had stormed out of the room like a category five hurricane. His brows rose and fell in contemplation before a very slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. _T__his is an interesting development_, he thought inwardly.

Then the Hyuuga prodigy turned to his cousin, "don't worry Hinata, he doesn't mean what he says most of the time" he reassured, "… half of the time" he corrected with an afterthought.

"Th-thanks Neji" she nodded meekly and gave him a forced smile.

"Alright, I'll see you after the game"

Neji walked out of the deathly quiet room and found Sasuke waiting for him, "aren't you leaving?"

"Hn" he pushed off the wall and started up the stairs, "as long as she doesn't see me."

"I guess you're right"

The boys left to find their seats with the rest of the team, while back in the room everyone shared sympathetic looks for the Hyuuga heiress.

"Here" Temari dug through her bag and pulled out a package of tissues.

"I don't n-need it" Hinata sniffled and pulled her mask off. Her cheeks were stained with tears that she wiped away with the sleeves of her jersey, "coach?"

"Yea, Hyuuga?" Anko answered.

"I want to play" Hinata responded forcefully. Her usually soft eyes held hardness, a determination, a new resolve. The faces amongst the room brightened.

"Alright Hyuuga, you're back in" their coach smiled a wide grin, "let's get behind Hinata! She's been the backbone of this team all year and one slip up isn't going to change anything!"

The girls cheered and crowded around their goalie, giving her encouraging words, pats, nudges, hugs, and hair ruffles.

"Let's go win!" TenTen hollered and led the team out of their room and onto the ice that was already occupied by Iwa.

* * *

Sasuke was crouched down behind Shikamaru and Chouji at the very top row, watching between their shoulders and doing his best not to be caught by the indigo haired goalie. They had returned to the ice nearly ten minutes ago and both teams seem to carry with them, a new vigour. The shots on goal were practically identical at five shots for Konoha and six shots for Iwa in the third. Hinata was playing a solid game, battling a fierce war against the many combatants that threw the puck her way or dared to enter her goal crease. Sasuke looked indifferent.

"So what do you think?" he heard Kakashi ask the scouts.

"Quick on her feet, good lateral movement, good reflexes and peripheral vision" Asuma started, "satisfactory rebound control."

"I can attest that her rebound control has been better" the silver haired coach added, "though, I'll admit that her second period was rather sloppy."

"The first goal was a result of bad rebound control" Kurenai joined the conversation, "the second goal was poorly played, and the third… she really couldn't have been held accountable for that one."

"That penalty shot was remarkable" Gai complimented enthusiastically.

"Yes it was" Asuma agreed, "but we're here to observe the Hyuuga."

"And what conclusion have you come up with?" the Heat coach asked. "Should we continue to pursue her services?"

"Definitely"

Kakashi smiled under his mask and waved to the team's captain at the other end of the row.

"I'm still working on it" Neji tried to waved the man off, "she'll have signed the contract by Monday."

Sasuke shoved his hands back into his pockets and leaned back on the hard floor.

* * *

Hinata readjusted her mask after taking a shot off of it, but luckily it was nowhere near as painful as Sasuke's shot a few days ago. She glanced up at the scoreboard and then let out a tired sigh. With two minutes left in an evenly matched game, it seemed they might go to overtime.

The face-off was taken to her left and won by TenTen. Konoha's top line took it up into the offensive end and battles along the boards ensued with Konoha's top offensive players against Iwa's defensemen.

Hinata smiled sweetly when she saw Iwa's players were tiring before any of her teammates; it appeared that Konoha had the upper hand in terms of conditioning. A pass in front of Iwa's goalie was easily intercepted by the tired defender, who then sent the puck away on a lacklustre dump in as players skated to the bench to change. Hinata skated out of her net and caught the puck at the top of her left face-off circle. Ino and the rest of her team left the offensive end to get onside and then the platinum blonde banged her stick, "lead!" she yelled.

The Hyuuga heiress glanced over to the bench to see the Iwa players still leaving the bench. She sent the puck down the length of the left side. Ino picked it off and skated in on a breakaway. The Iwa goaltender came out but not far enough to take away all the shooting room. She smirked and wound her stick up, aiming to send the puck over the goalie's left shoulder, the stick came down and the rubber disk flew up and hurtled pass and into the net just milliseconds before the buzzer for the end of the game sounded.

Hinata's jaw dropped, Konoha's bench cleared and everyone rushed and jumped the platinum blonde. Laughter, cheering, and singing rang through the arena as a deflated Iwa team congregated at their bench. Hinata pulled off her mask and skated down to join the rest of her team, which then all turned to her and ploughed into her. She fell over and they all piled atop.

The referee skated to the official's box, "goal to number 9, Yamanaka Ino and assist to number 27, Hyuuga Hinata."

Up top, in the seats, the Heat exchanged smiles and nods of approval as they prepared to leave.

_We need to talk, call me after you're done celebrating_. Neji typed the text message into his phone on the way out and pushed send.

* * *

**Beta read by: **the always wonderful **lil.ramen.lover**! and she gets spicy beef ramen! I wonder how many ramen flavours there are... hmm...

**A/N:** A chapter jam packed with hockey goodness and a sprinkle of Sasuhina drama. And yea, I know, I overdid the hockey but I needed the goals and the scenes in between. I don't think there's much else to say about the chapter, but there is a question I would like to extend to everyone. What do you all think about pairings? So far there are three pairings: Sasuhina, Nejiten, ShinoOC (and she has a name. We're just waiting for her to introduce herself). Most vital characters have been intorduced to some degree. There is only one more female and a few more boys waiting to come into play. My beta has drawn parallels between Ino and Shikamaru, suggesting a potential pairing. I already know who I want Ino with... but I'm curious, what do you think? A reviewer has also mentioned Gaahina and Kankino. I'm open to suggestions!

As always, **thanks** for all the freakishly awesome reviews! I love reading all your reviews. I'm glad to hear that you all have opinions about Sakura, both positive and negative. Antagonists need some lovin' too, haha. I got one game prediction which predicted and 1-1 game going to a shootout. That would've been edge of your seat hockey!

Lastly, I've added links under Behind the Mask in my profile. Two are youtube videos, the first being the penalty shot I modelled Iwa's third goal after and the second video is just funny. The third link is to the rulebook for the league I follow (my team got eliminated from the playoffs! I'm sad). You can read up if you're curious or brave enough to take a stab at deciphering the hockey jargon.

Okay, that's it! Thanks a bunch for reading! Er, have a nice weekend and please review if the chapter wasn't too boring!


	7. Always Together

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 7: Always Together**

A look around the rink from a spectator's perspective revealed a distinctive line between the winners and losers. There were no grey areas. There was only the devastated Iwa team, surrounding and comforting each other, and the Konoha team, surrounded by the gloves, helmets, and sticks tossed around the icy white surface. The various items discarded in the midst of their celebration.

Hinata giggled hysterically under the mass of teammates, their arms and legs flailing, a few jabbing her more sensitive areas to induce her laughter. Not that anyone noticed though, the girls' joyous laughter melded and chimed together through the modest sized arena. Each note of pure happiness struck the Iwa players like a dagger in their sides as they stood around their bench. Most were still hiding their gently shed tears behind the cages of their helmets while a few chewed their anguish away on the fingers of the gloves that held their sticks upright to balance them. One girl was bowed down to the ice, grieving the loss of the championship title they had come so close to claiming.

"We're champions! We're the freakin' champions!" a pleased voice shouted cheerfully.

"Hinata!" the Hyuuga heiress attuned her senses to pick up Ino's voice in the heap of hockey players, "you got an assist!"

Slowly, the players let up and released their star goalie from the bottom of the pile up. Hinata instantly spotted the stream of platinum blonde hair flowing out from beneath a mask. The two girls skated into a brief hug before separating and searching for Temari and TenTen. Eventually the four girls found each other. They embraced with no spoken words, but smiles gleamed proudly as heads pressed together.

"Congratulations girls" Temari declared blissfully.

"We did it" TenTen added, her grin ever present, "and we did it together."

"I never doubted this could be done" Ino tightened her arms around Hinata to her right and Temari to her left, "this was meant to be… we were meant to be crowned."

"Mm" Hinata nodded, her forehead rubbing against the others as happy tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, "thank you for supporting me."

"Always Hinata, always." Ino reassured as all three girls leaned into the Hyuuga goalie, "we'll always be here for you."

Hinata inhaled a deep breath of air and let her contented tears mark their paths down her cheeks, "pr-promise? Promise we'll always be together?"

"Promise" they replied simultaneously.

"Listen, even if we get separated by school next year," Temari started, "it doesn't mean we won't be friends anymore or that we won't always be around for each other."

"Let's make a pact" TenTen lifted her hand to the centre of their group hug, "even if the season is over, even after me and Temari have graduated, we'll be friends forever, regardless of where our lives take us."

"Agreed" Ino laid her hand above TenTen's

"It's a pact then" Temari added her hand.

"Always together" Hinata sniffled and smiled at her friends before gently placing her hand on top.

"I love you girls," the team's captain announced.

"We love you too Temari!" They muttered together, eliciting laughter amongst themselves.

"Hey! The group hug is cute and all, but it's time to line up!" Anko shouted to the quartet.

The girls separated and joined the rest of their team as they formed a single line. Iwa formed a line opposite to Konoha. Hinata lined up behind her friends as the lines moved next to each other. Each player respectfully shook each and every hand of the opposition, praising their hard work and wishing them luck in the future.

During games, it was expected that both teams battled and fought with every ounce of their beings. There was no such thing as friendly rivalries. All that exist are those that play alongside you, and those that don't. They are expected to play hard, skate hard, hit hard, and shoot hard. But when all is said and done, there was no doubt each and every player holds an unwavering respect for their counterparts.

Hinata shook the hand of the player passing her, and out of the corner of her eyes she caught a glimpse of the two captains sharing a half hug and pats of the back. The movements of their lips portraying the mutual respect they held. Soon they broke apart and continued down the line. Iwa's captain met Hinata not long after her short exchange with Temari.

"Congrats, you're a very gifted goalie" the redheaded Iwa player complimented with subtle but genuine smile.

"Thank you" Hinata gave a curt nod and moved along. The indigo haired goaltender smiled demurely when she caught sight of TenTen exchanging respectful words with the player she had literally been at war with the entire game. The brunette smiled vibrantly and complimented the Iwa player's unyielding determination and bone shattering hits.

The line was beginning to thin as most players had shown their respect to the opposition. Only a few players remained and Iwa's coach. Hinata shook that last of the clammy hands belonging to hockey players, only one hand remained. She inclined her head upward and sent Iwa's blonde coach a sweet smile. A steady hand came out to clasp his in hers, but she gasped and flinched when pale lavender eyes looked down to the man's hand.

He chuckled lightly and opened his hand fully; his palm held up to Hinata's frightened face. "A tattoo, yea" he stated with an amused smirk.

Hinata's eyes narrowed on the supposed tattoo, taking in the intricate handiwork. It appeared to be a mouth, opened and supplemented by the white teeth and a pink tongue. He lifted his other hand up and held it beside its twin. She looked to the other one. It was grinning… and almost mockingly. "So, you okay to shake my hand?" he chuckled again and held out his right hand for her to take.

"Mm" Hinata smiled and took his hand, "y-you've coached a very good team."

"Thank you." He bowed his head, acknowledging her kind words, "though today might not have been your best game; you've always managed to astound me, yea. Keep up the good work Hyuuga."

Hinata gave him a polite nod before retracting her hand and joining the rest of her teammates for the trophy presentation. Iwa's team exited the rink for their dressing room. A small table was brought out and a luminous golden trophy placed atop.

The Konoha girls lined up along the blue line, their arms laced around the back of their teammate's shoulders, symbolic of the union formed over the past season. Various people of authority paced onto the ice with steady and cautious steps, taking places around the trophy and preparing to present it to the team's captain. Once everyone was in their respective spots and one of the high school's photography students was ready, Temari was called up and awarded the golden trophy. The team cheered with unrestrained satisfaction as their captain was photographed with the sole object they had been working to attain.

Hinata shifted her head from the scene and searched for her family. She found them standing in front of their seats. Her father was the image of rigid pride, her mother played the role of overjoyed and teary eyed parent fully equipped with mucus laden tissues, and lastly, Hanabi grinned from ear to ear while the poster in her hand whipped, as she waved it frantically. Hinata turned on her skates and looked up to the empty seats that had previously been occupied by the Heat players. Relieved that they were gone, she turned her attention back and revelled in the surreal moment.

The formal proceedings finished with Temari lifting the trophy high above her head before pulling it down to place an accomplished kiss. She skated a few paces to the edge of the rink to celebrate with the few fans.

"Hinata" the dirty blonde called out, "you're next."

"M-me?" her lavender eyes widened as she was shoved ahead by a few of her teammates.

"We couldn't have done it without you" Temari offered the trophy and Hinata received it gratefully.

She followed suit with her captain and skated along the glass, to her family. They smiled proudly. She allowed a grin to force its way across her features and kissed the trophy lightly before searching for the next person.

She spotted Ino in the middle of the pack, "Ino!"

The girls separated and created a path for the platinum blonde. The trophy was passed on to her and then after she skated her paces with it, she passed it to TenTen… and so forth.

Hinata turned and looked up as an arm was thrown around her shoulders, "time to party" Temari suggested with a sly grin.

* * *

Neji sighed and glanced at his watch, it read 9:28PM. After Hinata's game, the boys had boarded their team bus and rode back to Konoha Academy where everyone was dropped off. He walked with his raven haired assistant captain to Sasuke's and Naruto's room. Even without opening the door, they could already hear the blonde's raspy voice seep through the cracks.

The door swung open to reveal Naruto seated on a chair across from a brilliant head of bubble gum pink hair. "It's okay Sakura… we lose games all the time" Naruto tried to console the irritated girl.

"Sasuke!" she bounded off the edge of the bed and past Naruto before wrapping her slender arms around Sasuke's neck.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on his teammate while Neji furrowed annoyed brows.

"Don't" Sasuke stated definitively and withdrew from her embrace. He briskly walked over to his own bed and collapsed over it.

"But Sasuke… we lost today." She took the spot on the edge of his bed and attempted to grasp his hand, "can't you just be nice for once?"

Sasuke narrowed his onyx eyes and tilted his head to Naruto. The blonde's facial expression floated somewhere between hurt and frustration. Naruto narrowed his own cerulean eyes at his brother figure, their heated stares going unnoticed by the girl but easily catching the attention of the Heat's respected captain. Neji stifled a yawn and leaned deeper into the chair he had claimed.

Sasuke's head twitched, motioning for Naruto to do something about the girl invading his space. The blonde got up with a shrug and walked to the bathroom, his displeasure with the circumstances clearly evident on his face. The Uchiha's jaw clenched tighter as Sakura leaned into him with her constant babbling mouth. He just wondered why she couldn't be quiet like Shino's girlfriend… or even Hinata, but he pushed thoughts of the latter aside.

The sound of a cell phone going off stole the attention of the room's occupants.

"Hey" Neji said smoothly into his phone's receiver.

Sasuke watched inquisitively as his captain conversed with an unidentified caller. Eventually Naruto re-entered the room and shot Sasuke a look that asked who Neji was talking to. Sasuke shrugged and returned his attention back to removing Sakura from his arm. He turned to Naruto again, his eyes pleading for the blonde's help. Naruto simply crossed his arms like a child and collapsed on his bed. Neji chuckled inwardly at the scene while talking on the phone. It amazed him how this one arrogant and self-absorbed girl could cause such an odd rift between two near brothers. Naruto didn't dislike Sasuke because of the attention Sakura gave him, but he envied the Uchiha star.

"Go bug Naruto" Sasuke instructed authoritatively while he worked diligently to remove her.

"But Sasuke" she implored with her bright emerald eyes, "I've been with Naruto for awhile and you didn't get to see my game, I missed you."

Sasuke inhaled a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm. His eyelids drifted down as he tuned out the pink haired girl's unpleasant voice. He honed in on Naruto's snickers and rants under his breath. The blonde obviously didn't think Sasuke could hear his muttered insults. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and did so successfully.

"I'll see you tomorrow then" Neji bid farewell to the person on the other line, "yea, yea, I love you too."

Naruto bolted upright and immaturely made kissy faces at the Hyuuga prodigy. Neji hung up the phone and threw one of the cushions from his chair at Naruto.

"Ayah!" Naruto shouted as he caught the cushion, "violent aren't we?"

Neji shrugged the comment off and stood up, "I'm going to head home."

"Who was that?" Naruto queried with curious eyes.

"Someone integral to getting the Heat a new goalie" Neji answered with a smirk.

"Hinata?" the blonde boy held a look of genuine contemplation.

Neji didn't answer. He just waved a farewell and exited the room.

* * *

Hinata slipped through the front door soundlessly. There was absolutely no light to illuminate the mansion's foyer, halls, or stairs, save for the little moonlight that pierced the windows. She was so tempted to switch on the lights but opted against it, she didn't want to wake anyone up. In all her years, she had never stayed out this late and certainly was not accustomed to sneaking around in the dark like Neji was.

Slow and steadily, she wall-hugged her way to the stairs where she fiercely grasped the railings as she walked up. When she successfully made it to her bedroom without mishap, she glanced around her room for the clock to determine exactly how late she had stayed out and if she should be concerned with possible consequences. Her parents were loving, caring, and all that but when it came to disciplining, they never hesitated. And upon recollection, while the team was out celebrating their win, Hinata hadn't actually bothered to check her phone for messages.

She pulled the slim device from her pocket and sat down on her bed. Flipping it open, she read the time as 4:12AM and cringed a little. She didn't even stay up this late let alone stay out, but then again this was a special occasion. After the trophy presentation and showering, the team met up at a restaurant that belonged to one of their teammates. Together, the team blasted music, sang various celebratory songs, ate boatloads of appetizers and finger foods, and popped corks off non-alcoholic champagne bottles before dumping them on each other. So much for those showers…

A smile tugged on the Hyuuga heiress's lips. It had definitely been a night to remember. She absently opened up her phone's messages inbox, looking for some parental instruction demanding she come home. She didn't find any… but there were many others.

The first was the standard congratulatory text message from the parents. _Congratulations Hinata. We're so proud of you! Don't stay out too late._

The second message was courtesy of her lovely cousin. _Congrats Hina. See you at home._ Yea, Neji was never one for many words or long and drawn out speeches.

"Gaara" she read the name and another smile ghosted over her lips. _Congratulations Hinata. We knew you could pull it off. We'll see you and everyone when we come to play Neji._

The fourth message was from Neji again… well sort of. More accurately, it was from Neji's phone. _Looks like you pulled through, we'll see how you do in the MJHL – Uchiha Sasuke._ Her nose scrunched as she tried to comprehend what he had meant… it was too late at night to think straight, moving onto the next message…

The next handfuls of messages were all from 'Mr. Sunshine' or otherwise known as Kankoru. He had literally taken her phone and replaced his simple 'Kankoru' label with the brighter one. Her smile grew more prominent as she scrolled through his messages. The older brunette boy always knew how to make her smile. _Sunshine! _End of first message. _Congrats on the big win!_ End of second message. _Temari says you did well!_ End of third message. _We beat Iwa today too!_ End of fourth message. _I get unlimited texting :)_ End of fifth message. _Oh, shit! This is long distance texting, isn't it?_ End of sixth message.

Hinata stifled a giggle at the boy's digital epiphany. His epiphany was the last of the messages so she set out to her adjoining bathroom and prepared to sleep off the night's events.

* * *

Neji pulled on his jacket before exiting his room. He stopped briefly at Hinata's door and opened it to find a sleeping Hyuuga. It was the middle of the afternoon and she was still sleep. _Must've had one hell of a night_, he mused.

"Where are you going?" Hanabi asked as they crossed paths on Neji's way to the front door.

"Out" he answered minimally and smiled as his baby cousin's face contorted in annoyance.

"Fine, be secretive." She waved him off, "I'll find out eventually anyway."

"Hn" Neji chose not to reply and slipped out the door.

He slid into the seat of his car and drove in pleasant silence to the other side of Konoha. When he finally arrived at the small restaurant, he parked his car on the street and walked in to meet the person that would help him get Hinata to join the Heat. The host offered Neji his assistance but the Hyuuga prodigy politely waved him off and walked towards an already occupied table.

"Hey" he greeted and kissed TenTen affectionately, "I'm surprised you made it. Hinata is still sleeping."

She cupped a hand over her mouth to cover a yawn, "I envy her."

"You don't want to see me?" Neji feigned hurt.

"I do" she smiled and took a sip of her water, "but I suspect you didn't invite me to a late lunch just to see me. As much as you love me, I'm sensing an ulterior motive. I mean, you did send me that text message after our game, something about wanting to talk."

He chuckled at his girlfriend's accusations, "yes, there is another reason. But I wanted to see you too, you've been so busy preparing for that final that the last time we were alone was more than a week ago."

"Aw, you missed me!" she teased.

"Don't deny that you missed me too" he leaned forward, into the table, and took her hand in his.

"Alright, I missed you too," she said as sweetly as it would come. "Now get on with it so we can have a nice meal together. What do you want?"

Neji smiled at the girl's straightforwardness, "it's about Hinata."

"Hinata? What about her? Is she okay?"

"She's fine… or well, I assume she's fine" Neji's thumb absently rubbed her as their hands remained interlaced, "I need your help to convince her to agree to something."

"Agree to what?" she narrowed her eyes on him, "it better not be anything creepy, or perverted, or the like."

An eyebrow rose quizzically, "what are you implying?"

"Nothing!" she waved a hand defensively, "so, what's this something you want Hinata to agree to?"

"When she came to practice with me last week, our coach and the players got a chance to watch her play" he started, his eyes locking with hers to affirm the seriousness of the topic. "In the MJHL, there are no rules distinguishing between genders eligible to play. After the practices, our coach and general manager, Hatake Kakashi, offered her a spot on the Konoha Heat."

TenTen's jaw dropped and her eyes widened, "uh… say that again, the last part."

An amused smiled etched across his masculine face, "Hinata was offered a position on our team."

"No way" the brunette girl replied disbelievingly, "you're joking."

"No joke"

"If you're serious then that's awesome!" her eyes brightened, "just think of all the doors this opens. She'd be the first female to play major junior hockey… and she'd get to play against the future stars of pro hockey!"

"Yea, it does open a lot of doors and offers a lot of valuable experience. There's just one problem."

"What?"

"She declined the offer."

"She declined? Why?"

Neji shrugged his broad shoulders, "she wants to stay with you and the girls."

"But this is such a great opportunity!"

"I know, so I need your help to convince her."

Her face contorted as she considered his request, "I don't think I can…"

"Why not?"

"Because… you know how Hinata is" she started, the fingernails of her free hand tapped on the wooden surface of the table, "if she declined then there's a reason and if we try to persuade her then we'd end up bullying her into doing something she might not want."

"But this'll be good for her… and the team too" he reasoned with the brunette.

"I'm sure she thought through the offer before declining" she breathed in a deep breath, "it's her decision and I don't feel like I have the right to conspire against it. She has her reasons… just like you're always saying Uchiha has his reasons for being a jerk." Her mouth formed in an 'O' as a thought hit her like a truck, "Uchiha. He treated her horribly yesterday! There's no way she would play with him!"

Neji's mouth straightened into a frown, "is the problem that she doesn't want to face Sasuke or that she doesn't want to leave her friends? Because depending on which one it is, I'll have to alter my strategy."

A smile crossed over her face as her usually stoic boyfriend frowned, "probably a bit of both. How would you alter your strategy?"

"I don't know, ask Sasuke to be nicer?"

TenTen chuckled, "good luck with that."

"I'll deal with Sasuke if anything comes up, but will you help convince Hinata?"

"I don't know… let me talk to Temari and Ino first, just to see what they think"

* * *

The crunch of ice under the skate blades was followed by a resounding crash and then a pained yelp. The Konoha Heat player doubled over and rolled on the ice.

"Hey, sorry…" Kiba laughed nervously and extended his hand out, "guess I didn't realize how hard that hit was going to be."

The player nodded and waved him off, gasping for air as if it would numb the pain.

"Alright let's take a break while our friend here finds his footing" Kakashi instructed while he absently pointed to the player lying on the ice.

The players skated to the benches and grabbed for water bottles.

"I thought this was a closed practice, why are there spectators?" another player asked to no one in particular.

Konoha's top line shifted their line of sight to find three occupied seats, two blondes and a brunette. "Is that TenTen?" Naruto asked to Neji.

"Yea" he nodded.

"Oi, her friends are cute aren't they Sasuke?" the blonde nudged the obsidian eyed boy.

"Hn" Sasuke his narrowed eyes on the long-haired platinum blonde, in turn she narrowed her own bright eyes on him. He knew she disliked him, especially after what happened two days ago at their championship final. Their brief but heated confrontation had left a bad taste in his mouth, but her loyalty to Hinata was admirable. "Why are they here?" Sasuke asked monotonously.

"We'll have to see after our practice is done" Neji shrugged and skated back out into the middle of the rink.

The boys finished off their scrimmages and exited the rink. After showering and dressing in their normal street clothes, they walked out of the dressing rooms to find three girls leaning against the wall across from them. Neji and TenTen met in an embrace.

"Is this about Hinata?" Neji asked with a knowing smirk, while also subtly noting the tension growing between Ino and Sasuke.

"So you're really serious about her playing in the MJHL?" Temari asked.

"It's not something I'd joke about" the Hyuuga prodigy replied apathetically.

"We want to talk to the team's general manager," Ino stated, her gaze not weakening under Sasuke's hard glare.

"Kakashi's in his office." Neji took TenTen's hand and started walking, "follow me."

"Uh, what's going on?" Naruto voiced confusedly as he scurried along with the three girls and his two teammates.

No one answered as they approached the grey door of the coach/general manager's office. Neji knocked and was invited in by the silver haired man's friendly voice.

"Neji" Kakashi greeted, "and company… hi." He eyed the group curiously, making note that he only recognized his three players… but the girls looked remarkably familiar, "is there something I can help you with?"

"This is my girlfriend, TenTen and her friends Temari and Ino" Neji motioned to the respective girl, "they're also Hinata's teammates."

"Ah, congratulations on your championship win the other day!" The corners of Kakashi's eyes crinkled, a smile hidden under his mask, "it was an exciting game to watch."

"Thank you." Temari stepped forward and bowed politely to the man, "we appreciate your support but we're here to talk about our teammate, Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto's cerulean eyes darted around the room. Everyone seemed to know what was going on except for him. Even if Sasuke's face betrayed nothing, Naruto saw that he knew what this was about.

"Alright, what is it you would like to discuss?" Kakashi leaned forward in his seat.

"We think it'd be a good opportunity for Hinata to play in the MJHL." Ino spoke with confidence and poise, "but we wonder if playing with the Heat would be the best environment for her, considering the… volatile nature of boys" her eyes shifted to Sasuke. "We can convince her to join… we just need to know that she'd be taken care of."

"I can assure you, Hinata will be treated well" he smiled behind his mask, "I've already had this discussion with her parents, we've come to terms with the matter and it's been written into the contract. Hinata will be treated like any other player on the team, just as I expect her to work like any other player on the team. The only exceptions are that she will receive a separate dressing room and hotel room when we're on the road."

"And what will you do if she's not openly welcomed on the team," TenTen asked sternly.

Kakashi's eyes glazed over with a look of boredom, "I'm not a mother, and any altercations among players are solved by players. If in the end the players still don't get along then one will likely be dismissed." His eyes wandered upwards as though he was recalling an event, "that's never happened in my coaching career though. The last time something came close to that was when Neji was traded here last season. You can ask Neji and Sasuke about it."

Both boys scowled at their coach. The girls gave each other glances, clear disapproval of the coach's answer evident in their eyes.

Kakashi sensed their uncertainty and spoke to reassure them, "most players are approving of Hinata joining the team. A few are undecided and one is adamantly against it." The man's eyes drifted to Sasuke, "but then again, that one player was against Neji joining too." He smirked at Sasuke's irritation, "it worked out… that player was the one that nominated Neji for captaincy this season."

"You don't need to worry about Hinata" Neji reassured the girls, "the team captain is her cousin after all. Her joining the team would benefit all of us, including herself."

The girls looked amongst themselves, no indications as to where their decision might sway.

"If it helps" the silver haired coach interrupted the silent glances, "I could give you a tour and show you the storage room we were having remodelled into a dressing room for her before she turned down our offer."

Together, the female hockey players nodded. Kakashi stood up from behind his desk and walked out the door, the teenagers following behind him.

"So, your cousin is joining the team?" Naruto fell into step beside Neji and Sasuke, the three girls walked ahead of them.

"We'll see" Neji replied.

Kakashi led the group to a door a short distance from their team's dressing room, a few remaining players peered down the hall inquisitively. The team's coach swung the door opened and flipped the light switch. They filed into the small room, well, small in comparison to the normal sized rooms. But in actuality, it was a generous size for just one player.

Sasuke tilted his head upward and noted that they had been considerate enough to even change the lighting for her. The usual cement floor had been carpeted and it now held the Heat's flaming leaf logo. Neji and Naruto awed at how the walls had even been painted to match their dressing rooms and featured the team's colours; dark green and maroon red accented the cream coloured walls. The girls' eyes widened as they set sights on the half constructed stall. The former storage room was many more times luxurious than their dressing rooms at the modest community rink.

"I was hoping to have it done for her first game, which would have been last Thursday." Kakashi stood to the side and let the teenagers take in the room, "but she decided against joining so the stall wasn't completed."

"So Ino, what do you think about her joining now?" Temari asked the platinum blonde that had been determinedly against their Hyuuga goalie joining the boy's team.

"I think we need to give Hinata a call," TenTen stated absently, her brown eyes still scanning the room.

Ino swivelled on her feet, the long ponytail of platinum blonde hair whipped with her sudden motion. "Fine, I get it! This'll be good for her" Ino fumed and stomped up to Sasuke. She poked him threateningly under his left collarbone with two fingers, "if you treat her poorly, I swear, I will come here and pummel you myself! Either that or I'll sic Temari's brothers on you! I'm sure they'll gladly delegate for me!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes on her, completely unperturbed by her threats. Neji snorted while trying to contain a chuckle. Konoha and Suna had a good rivalry going, but he figured no one realized that the dirty blonde girl was a Sabaku, and in turn Ino was referring to Suna's intimidating redheaded captain and the soft-hearted brown haired tough guy who could really throw some punches.

"Hn" the simple sound came out nonchalantly.

* * *

The indigo haired beauty stepped off the bus at the stop two blocks from the café she and her friends liked to visit on occasion. A brown satchel hung diagonally from one shoulder to her waist as she walked steadily towards the café. When she arrived, she pulled the transparent glass door open and stepped inside. She immediately spotted the familiar heads of hair and padded towards the table.

"Hi!" She greeted her three friends and cousin, they murmured greetings in response.

"Hinata…" Temari started, "we need to talk to you about something important."

Hinata's eyes widened, "is something wrong?"

They shook their heads but eventually the behaviour morphed into unsure shrugs. Temari reached into her bag and pulled out a thin folder. She pushed it forward for Hinata who eyed it curiously.

"Neji told us that his team asked you to join them." TenTen said with a soft smile, "we think you should seriously consider taking them up on the offer."

"Wh-what?" she looked between her friends, "b-but what about next season?"

"Hina, this is the best for you." Ino added, her bright sky blue eyes glistened with unshed tears, "we want you to do this, _I_ want you to do this. Just think of all the new experiences you'll get."

Hinata scanned the faces in wonderment, "I c-can't… I d-don't want to l-leave Konoha High… I'm no good at making n-new friends… I don't want to make new friends."

"You won't have to, remember friends forever and always together no matter what." TenTen smiled and fought back any tears from surfacing, "we made a pact."

"It'll be great, you'll get to travel all over and play lots of games." Temari pulled on an encouraging smile, "and with some of the most elite players. Neji will be there with you along the way and we'll always be here."

"And if that Uchiha gives you any trouble" Ino grinned almost devilishly, "let me know and I'll take care of him or tell Gaara and Kankoru when you play Suna!"

Hinata shook her head weakly, "I don't know a-about this."

Neji leaned forward and flipped the folder open to reveal the contract, "the contract is just to get you to agree to the team rules. You're allowed to walk if things don't work out."

"We support you, Hinata." Ino placed a pen atop the papers and the other girls nodded in agreement.

The Hyuuga heiress bit her bottom lip anxiously and pushed the contract away, "I c-can't."

"Hinata please," Ino pleaded and blinked away tears, "if you can't do it for yourself then do it for us. You deserve more than a petty high school team. You deserve to play with the best because you are among the best."

The contract was pushed towards her again. She chewed her bottom lip, reluctantly picked up the pen, and then looked at the girls, "always together right?"

"Right," the girls replied in unison, "always together."

The ball tip of the pen hit the paper and began the steady strokes necessary to sign the name 'Hyuuga Hinata' on the dotted line.

* * *

**Beta-read by: lil.ramen.lover** who, as always, did an excellent job and so I dish out a steaming bowl of spicy beef ramen for her!

**A/N:** This chapter was sort of filler-ish, but it needed to be done… at least she's finally signed the contract! Alright, so it seems people are speculating some Kankino and Kibaino. As I already mentioned, Ino's pairing has already been decided. Whether it's with Kankoru, Kiba, or someone else, you'll have to keep reading! I threw in some mild Kankhina with this chapter for fun. That's a cracktastic paring, and especially well written in one of Kaotic312's fics. Um… I think that's all I have to say. Next chapter should be out in 2-3 weeks. It should contain the formal introduction of Shino's girlfriend and one more additional female. Check my LiveJournal for status updates. The first post will always be a sort of progress report.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to review! I thought last chapter was boring and figured no one would even bother to read all of it! Haha. But seriously, THANKS! Please review too! Let me know your thoughts, and constructive criticism is always welcomed!


	8. Commencement

**Behind the Mask**

**Chapter 8: Commencement**

Hinata's lips were formed into a bittersweet smile as she sat cross-legged in the empty hallway of Konoha high. Her pale eyes gazed on the grey painted locker across from her, the locker that she needed to empty out.

It was Friday afternoon and school had been let out nearly two hours ago, and she had been seated there for nearly half an hour, slightly surprised that no one had come looking for her. The day had started like any other, until she was sitting in her last class and an announcement was made over the school's P.A system, asking that she report to a room on the other side of the school. So, she had packed away her books and walked out of her bio class for the last time, only to enter another room five minutes later.

What met her in the other room was certainly a surprise. Her entire team was scattered around the room. There were tons of junk food and decorations, even a big 'good luck!' banner splayed across a wall. The team's championship trophy gleamed magnificently in one corner. The next two hours were spent commemorating their season together and Hinata's dedication. She was the first of the team to part and they were doing what would soon been done for the graduating players as well.

Anko and the rest of the girls had given brief speeches, one-word phrases even. Hinata had expressed her gratitude for the support everyone had provided her with and then the party started. There was plenty of food, music, and cake. It wasn't a farewell party really, it was more of a celebratory party, and everyone had treated it as such. Hinata had managed to sneak out, an attempt to escape the proper 'good-byes' that would lead her to bawl until her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks raw, and upper lip sheen with watered down snot. Now she just needed to muster the power to empty her locker.

At least the Konoha Heat had decided to give her an extra week instead of trying to ship her off to Konoha Academy the first second they got. But then again, her best interest wasn't their sole reason for this decision. It had been leaked to the media that the team was acquiring a new member, but her name was never revealed. A few had even caught wind that the new player was a girl. The only ones who knew for certain were the team and league officials that had needed to approve of her contract. Everything so far had gone off without a hitch and she was set to debut on home ice Monday night. The team actually had two games this previous week, but they were road games and so the team's owner, Jiraiya, decided to hold off her debut in an effort to bring up home game ticket sales.

"Hey, there you are!" Hinata's brunette friend greeted as she dropped down beside her.

"Hi TenTen," Hinata greeted with a weak smile.

"We were getting worried when you didn't come back," Temari added as she and Ino walked down the hall, also taking spots on the floor.

"I'm just trying to empty my locker"

"Come on, we'll help" Ino grinned vibrantly and yanked on the Hyuuga's arm.

"Mm" she smiled back and stood up with the gentle assistant from the platinum blonde.

They walked across the hall and stood unmoving in front of her grey locker. Hinata stared at the combination lock with something akin to puzzlement.

"Here, I'll do it" Temari stepped between the persons and the locker, and then began turning the dial with ease. There was a subtle click and the lock opened. She pulled the lock out of its slot and opened the locker's door, revealing all of the Hyuuga heiress's possessions, notebooks, papers, various articles of clothing, and many photos plastered to its inside.

Hinata hated cleaning out her locker. She hated it now and she hated it when she had to do it at the end of each school year.

Carefully, the girls sifted through all her belongings, piling notebooks and papers into neat piles before slipping them into her messenger bag. After the locker was free of her books, they started delicately removing the photos, occasionally stopping to take note of something they hadn't noticed in the pictures before. One photo of Ino and Temari, featured green spinach stuck in the former's teeth. Another photo had an old man in the background checking out TenTen on one of their beach days over the summer, one of their _many_ beach days, courtesy of Gaara and his sand sculpting.

Hinata removed the last photo, her favourite photo. That photo was her favourite because it had everyone in it, all four girls seated in front while Neji, Kankoru, and Gaara sat behind them, and behind the group was Gaara's sand sculpture. They had literally spent days on the beach, even sleeping there, just to support him. His intricately designed hourglass had won him second place and everyone was awarded with bad sunburns for their dedication to the redhead. She would never forget those days.

"That looks like everything," Temari said as she placed the last of the photos in Hinata's bag.

"No wait!" TenTen interrupted as she reached in and pulled out a white envelope they had missed, "what's this?"

"Um," Hinata received it and eyed it grudgingly, "a copy of my transcripts in case Konoha Academy didn't receive it."

"Oh" the girls said in unison, their faces holding warm and encouraging smiles.

"W-well, I guess this is farewell…" Hinata spoke hesitantly.

"Don't talk like that" Ino instructed with stern sky blue eyes, "besides, it's Friday, let's go grab some ice cream or something!"

"Sounds good to me!" Temari chimed.

"Come on Hinata, we've got the whole weekend!" TenTen added enthusiastically.

"Okay"

* * *

It was too quiet in the room, definitely something she wasn't accustomed to. Sure, on the one, odd occasion she had practised with Neji, she had used the away team's dressing room, but this time was different. She was officially part of the Konoha Heat now, and she wasn't just here as a guest. No, she was here as a player and member of the team. The hard part for her, she was in the midst of a new team, with new teammates that will be watching and judging her every movement.

At least her second practice was done and out of the way. She had done well for the most part, nothing too embarrassing and she had managed to kick most of the shots away. What pleased Hinata most though, she didn't get a puck shot in the head by Uchiha Sasuke. Much to the contrary, he appeared to be either avoiding her or ignoring her, but she figured it didn't matter. The Heat's new goalie wasn't exactly hoping and praying for some newfound bond with the Uchiha star. Nope, she was perfectly content following Neji around. Only occasionally making small talk with whichever player decided it was the perfect time to interrogate their new goalie.

Actually, there was one player she was taking a shine to. With her arrival, he was relegated to the team's third string goalie. Normally, teams would send their third string goalies away to whichever lower tier team they came from, but apparently he was important enough to keep around, even important enough to send away one of the up and coming rookies to keep him around.

_Hinata liked him, Nara Shikamaru, that is. Well, not like _like_, but she enjoyed his company. It was after her first practice on Saturday, and Hinata had taken a seat on the players' bench while Neji and Sasuke were talking about something. Shikamaru had dropped down beside her with an exasperated sigh. She had tensed up at his bored expression and half-lidded eyes, but had relaxed when he sent her a half smile/smirk sort of thing. _

"_We play Kiri Monday night," then his head turned to look at her with stern eyes that were a stark contrast to what she had seen earlier, "you have good vision and lateral movement. Your rebound control is better than mine, but that is probably the only aspect of your game where Chouji is better. Hozuki Suigetsu is relentless in front of the net, he will screen you and slash you any moment he gets, and he usually gets away with the slashes. He has a keen sense for where the puck will go and nearly all his goals are off rebounds. Make sure you get the puck on their first shot, don't let rebounds out."_

_Shikamaru turned away and shifted on the bench, he then laid down with his arms folded behind his head, eyes drifting up to the empty rafters. She let her gaze follow his upwards, then he spoke again, "the rafters are too bare."_

"_They m-might not be after this season" she responded._

"_Three seasons ago, the Heat came close to winning their first championship." His eyes shifted back to the indigo haired girl, "with you around, our chances have increased. There will probably be a banner up come the opening of next season."_

_Hinata blinked disbelievingly, "w-why are you… so s-sure that I will help."_

_He shrugged, "it's too troublesome to explain. Just take my word for it, just like I knew you were going to sign."_

She had left it at that, he had looked like he was going to fall asleep anyway.

Hinata smiled as she pulled on her sweater before exiting the dressing room, grateful for his words. He might be the only one she could consider a friend. Well, it depended on how the rest of the team was going to warm up to her. So far, it was apparent that they wanted her there for the betterment of the team, but they weren't exactly chummy with her. With the smile still on her face, she brushed out of the dressing room.

* * *

The sound of light footsteps running down the stairs caused Neji to whip his head around in anticipation.

"Huh?" Hanabi looked at her cousin with puzzled eyes, "why are you still here? Shouldn't you have already left for school?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "I'm waiting for Hinata. What's taking her so long?"

"How do you expect me to know?" The young Hyuuga shrugged and skipped away in the direction of the kitchen.

Neji trudged over to the bottom of the stairs, "Hinata!" he called impatiently.

He heard a door shut and the girl in question appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in Konoha Academy's school uniform. She padded down the steps reluctantly and brushed passed him with a forced smile before pulling the front door open and stepping out.

Together, they walked in a comfortable silence. Neji knew full well what Hinata must be going through, having to leave the only friends she had ever known, and to transfer to a school of vain students. His sweet, quiet, and timid cousin was bad at making new friends. He had even been surprised a year ago, when she turned up at home with the three girls. He couldn't be more grateful for their presence in her life, and his, for he had never really built such genuine bonds, though his friendships with Naruto and Sasuke were much deeper than he could have ever expected. In retrospect, getting traded to Konoha was the best thing that could've happened to both of them. All that needed to be done now was to get Hinata through her first day at the academy unscathed, and unfortunately, he wouldn't be around to play protector, seeing as he was a grade up on her.

He frowned at the thought of throwing her out to the hounds, or so to speak.

"Headmaster Tsunade is probably expecting you" he nodded to the office door, at the centre of the school.

"Mm," she nodded and started towards the door.

"If you need anything, just ask one of the guys when you run into them" he paused, thinking of who he trusted most with her safety, "Naruto and Sasuke are in the same grade as you, so you'll probably have a few classes with them."

She chewed her inner cheek at the thought of resorting to the Uchiha for help, but forced a smile and nodded anyway. "Alright, I'll see you at lunch."

"Yea" he gave her a reassuring smile before turning and briskly walking off.

The Heat's newest goalie pulled in a deep breath and prepared herself. Resolving to get this day over with, she grasped onto the doorknob and pushed it open with ease. The secretary smiled warmly at her, "may I help you?"

Hinata walked up to the dark haired woman, named Shizune, according to the nameplate on her desk. "Yes, my name is H-Hyuuga Hinata. I'm a n-new student."

The woman grinned brightly, "yes, of course, Jiraiya just had you enlisted a few days ago." Shizune shuffled through the papers on her desk, and then she got up, "I'll just let Tsunade know you're here."

"Alright"

She returned a moment later with a taller, blonde woman.

"Hyuuga Hinata?" she asked and Hinata gave an affirmative nod, "great. I'm Konoha Academy's headmaster, come into my office."

Hinata had followed the headmaster into her office. They had gone over the school's rules, emergency codes, and other procedures that would need to be explained to a new student. Just as Hinata was receiving her timetable, there was a distinct knock on the door.

"Come in," Tsunade instructed. The door opened cautiously, a head of pink hair coming into Hinata's sight. "Good timing. Sakura, this is Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata, this is Haruno Sakura, she's one of the school's best achievers, also captain of the female's field hockey team, and she's your 11th grade student council representative."

"Hi, nice to meet you" Sakura smile charmingly and outstretched a hand.

"Likewise" Hinata took her hand.

Tsunade smiled proudly at her young pink haired student, "Sakura will show you around and help you get acquainted."

Sakura nodded with her signature sweet smile, "we should get going. Classes start in about ten minutes."

"Alright." Hinata answered and got up to give the headmaster a shallow bow, "thank you headmaster."

The woman shot Hinata a wink as she scurried out of the office and into the hallway, following closely behind Sakura.

"So, where's your first class?" Sakura turned around and back-pedalled.

"Um" the Hyuuga scanned the paper, "room 112A."

"Oh, that one's easy" the pink haired girl pivoted on her feet and fell into step beside Hinata, "what did you say your name was again? I didn't quite catch what Tsunade had said."

Hinata's hands wrung her messenger bag, an attempt to diffuse the unease she felt, "Hyuuga H-Hinata."

The girl stopped in her tracks, "Hyuuga? You're Neji's cousin?"

She blinked and nodded meekly.

With that answer, Sakura eyes went ablaze, and her jaw clenched, "you transferred here because of Sasuke, didn't you?"

Hinata unconsciously took a step back and peered fearfully with widened eyes, "n-no, I have n-no interest in him" she stammered.

"You're lying" Sakura stepped forward, narrowing her eyes on the cowering girl. "He ditched my game to watch _you_ play. There has to be something going on."

She shook her head furiously, "he d-doesn't like me!" She squeaked, "he h-hates me! He called me weak… and I d-don't like him either."

Sakura eyed the girl with inquisitive eyes, "there's nothing going on?" she asked innocently.

"No!" Hinata blurted.

"Oh" Sakura laughed lightly, "sorry then, I guess I got carried away. You see, Sasuke and I are practically a couple and I just get really protective."

_Practically a couple? He opted to watch my game instead of hers, and they're a couple?_ She wondered. Not that she cared…

"It's f-fine… uh, we should be getting to class."

"Right!" Sakura smiled vibrantly, "you know what? I just remembered. I have to go meet someone. Your first class is really easy to find, just down that way" she pointed to the opposite direction that they were facing. "How about I catch up with you later?"

"Um, s-sure" Hinata forced a smile and turned to the direction Sakura had pointed, "this way?"

"Yea, you can't miss it!" she confirmed as she started off in the other direction, a devious smirk on her coral lips.

Hinata started at a slow and steady pace, trying to take in as much of the school as possible. Though, oddly enough, the room numbers were going down instead of up. Instinct told her to turn around, but logic told her to listen to her student council representative. The elegant hallways were completely bare of any students, indicating that classes would've started already.

"Hey"

She swivelled on her black shoes to land her lavender eyes on a girl. The girl was about a half-head taller than her and slim, with slight curves. Her light brown hair billowed down in waves, curling gently at the ends, about halfway down her back. The long bangs were clipped to the back of her head. Her face shone with a tranquil radiance that had Hinata's curiosity piqued. Hazel eyes gleamed warmly along with the girl's friendly smile.

"You look lost, can I help you?" her friendly smile grew as her eyes squinted.

"It's okay," Hinata returned the smile, "I don't want to be a bother. I'm sure I can f-find it."

"I'm sure you can, but Sakura's directions are complicating it" she replied while a hand pointed behind her, "room 112A is that way. History, right?"

"Y-yea" she nodded half-heartedly.

"I'm in that class too, how about we walk together?" the brunette stepped forward to close the gap between them, a hand was offered, "my name is Konchuu Hotaru, by the way."

"Okay, uh," Hinata took her hand, "Hyuuga Hinata."

"I know" she broke their handshake and turned, "you're Neji's cousin." She motioned for Hinata to follow her, and they began walking towards their first class, "If you need anything, help with schoolwork, someone to sit with at lunch, or anything, just ask. I know what it's like to be the new student."

"Mm, alright"

"And, just a word of advice" they arrived in front of a door labelled 112A, "be careful around Sakura. Especially when she finds out you're playing for the Heat now."

"Y-you know?" Hinata's jaw dropped, she wasn't ready for anyone to know. Now particularly, considering what the girl had just said about Sakura.

"I was at your game two Fridays ago" she winked and pulled the classroom door open, "congrats on the win."

Hinata followed the girl into the room, and then all eyes fell on the pair.

"Ms. Konchuu, you're late" the male teacher turned away from the blackboard, "that's not like you at all. I expect there is a valid excuse?"

"I apologize, Mr. Hayashi," she gave a polite bow, "I was accompanying a new student." She stepped aside to reveal Hinata.

He picked up his attendance sheet, "ah, Hyuuga Hinata?"

"Y-yes" Hinata replied hesitantly.

"We are pleased to have you here, I'm sure Hotaru will gladly help you catch up with the material. Please take a seat," he gestured to the rectangular tables, which were practically full.

Hinata's eyes scanned the room, not able to spot an empty seat. At the sound of chairs scraping across the floor and papers and notebooks shuffling, Hinata looked to the back of the room. Two arms waved her over. "Hinata!" Kiba called out enthusiastically, "I didn't know you were in this class!"

The teacher rolled his eyes as Hinata and Hotaru made their way to the back of the room. She managed to squeeze in between Hotaru and Kiba. On Hotaru's other side, she recognized Shino, who gave her a curt nod. "Thanks," he had whispered to Hotaru when she had taken her seat.

To which his girlfriend had responded, "no problem."

"Hey" the hand from the girl at the end of the table extended over the couple, "I'm Matsuri. Nice to meet you" she whispered.

She timidly reached over the two and received the girl's hand, "Hyuuga H-Hinata."

"Yea, I know," Matsuri's smile gleamed, "Kiba and Shino's new teammate."

"Mm" Her hand was retracted while the teacher peered back with intimidating eyes, quietly instructing them to pay attention.

Her first class went swiftly, without a hitch in the road. She only had a few classes with Hotaru and Matsuri, a few more with Kiba and Shino, which also featured other players from the team. As far as she was concerned, all of her classes were tolerable with the exception of one. Apparently, literature was not a popular subject among the Heat, with the class only entertaining two players, excluding herself.

Being without friends in a class would normally not bother her. Hinata was never the popular type and had learned to be alone. But this was a whole other experience…

When she stepped over the threshold, she instantly recognized the striking head of blonde hair sitting next to a head of vivacious pink hair, and on his other side sat the boy she was all too familiar with. She'd know that glare anywhere, and she also knew his stone eyes were set on her back the entire class. It left her hand wringing her uniform's skirt. She also had an aching suspicion that Sakura wasn't too pleased with her presence either.

"Alright," the literature teacher glanced down at his watch and read it at just after two in the afternoon, "the Heat players are dismissed for their game. Remember to get your papers in before you leave on your road trip."

"No problem, sir" Naruto packed his books away and sent the teacher a mock salute before slinging his bag over his shoulder and turning to Sakura, "Sakura, you're coming to watch me tonight, right?"

"Of course" she answered and leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the Uchiha scowl and brush pass them.

"Hey, wait up" Naruto called out as he fell into step behind Sasuke, garnering a displeased look from the teacher for his disruptive behaviour.

Hinata watched her teammates dumbfounded. They passed her desk briskly and exited through the door. She looked between the door and her teacher a few times before Sasuke stomped back into the room, towering over her desk. Before she knew it, he had grabbed all her books and shoved them callously into her messenger bag.

He looked down at her with annoyed eyes, "let's go."

Hinata peered at him with wide eyes, making no attempt to move as the class watched the exchange curiously.

"Hinata, what's taking you so long?" Naruto's head popped into the doorway, a friendly grin plastered to his face.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," the teacher shuffled through his stack of papers and pulled one out before handing it to her, "I expect your paper in after you get back from the road trip. I'm sure Naruto or Sasuke will be of assistance if needed."

"Hn" Sasuke's jaw set and the muscles tensed. He gave the bewildered girl a strong yank on her sleeve, pulling her out of her seat, "walk" he instructed. Hinata exited the room with the two boys as whispers broke out across the classroom. The look of potent rage on a certain pink haired girl's face caused a smirk to grace its way across Sasuke's solid countenance.

* * *

"I like that one better" Hinata's mother pointed from her spot on Hinata's bed.

Hinata's lavender eyes darted between the two dress suits, one black and one a dark brown. "But black looks more professional" she held it up higher, pensively eyeing the current problem. "Agh" she sighed, "this is silly."

"What's silly?" Neji stepped into his cousin's bedroom and took a seat on the edge of her bed, looking dashing in his dark charcoal suit, a royal blue dress shirt on underneath, finished off with a matching charcoal tie.

"Th-this" she waved the suits around, "stupid league rules…"

Neji's lips tugged into an amused smile, "you're an MJHLer now. You have to look presentable, like the pros."

She narrowed her eyes into an uncharacteristic glare and padded off into her adjoining bathroom. The door slammed and Neji barely contained his chuckle. After getting dragged out of class, Hinata met up with Neji and they headed home to get dressed before heading to the arena. The rest of the players had gone to their dorms.

"Let's get this over with," she droned, brushing her hair as she exited the bathroom in a sleek black suit.

"Alright, let's go" Neji stood and straightened his suit. They waved to the Hyuuga matriarch and headed down to the foyer. Well, they almost made it to the foyer.

"_The Konoha Heat's general manager and head coach, Hatake Kakashi, held a press conference earlier today to clarify the swirling rumours about their newly signed player."_ The Hyuuga heiress's eyes widened as she took slow and steady steps into the living room, her eyes falling onto the television. _"It has been confirmed that this new player is the cousin of the team's captain, Hyuuga Neji. And get this, his cousin is a female, thus, tonight we will witness the first female to ever play in the MJHL. From my understanding, the highest level of hockey she's played is high school, so it'll be an interesting night for sure. I'd say to expect attendance to be higher than it'd usually be on a Monday night."_

Her jaw slowly drifted downward, "N-Neji, what's the average attendance?"

He shrugged, "on a Monday night… I'd guess around 3000 to 4000, but the newscaster is probably right about the increased attendance because of you."

A whimpered escaped her, "I don't th-think I've played in front of more than a 100."

* * *

**Beta-read by:** the always wonderful **lil.ramen.lover**. Yea and she gets some tantalizingly mouth-watering bowl of Spicy Chicken ramen!

**A/N:** Okay, yes I realize this chapter took a really long time. Apparently author and beta are busy people! But I'll try for the next chappie ASAP to make up for this one's lateness! Uh, okay, on to the chapter notes. Shikahina moment was random, but he was getting pushed aside because of her so they needed a moment. The chapter overall was transitional, essentially setting up for her first game and some friendships. Some history was revealed about the Suna boys and their ties to Konoha. There was mention of a road trip, which will go down after the first game... where we'll have the much anticipated Sasuhina bonding. Um... hm, someone will step up and help ease Hinata's nerves for her first game. Oh, and Konchuu is 'insect' and Hotaru is 'firefly' in Japanese.

Agh, I nearly forgot. Kiri/Mist features: Suigetsu, Kisame, Zabuza...? Are those the only characters? Maybe Haku?

Second matter to attend to. **SpammishRice** has been kind enough to do fanart for this fic and I have posted the link in my profile. Check it out! It's really, really awesome!

Third is totally irrelevant to the fic, but I'm here to shamelessly plug the LiveJorunal roleplay linked in my profile. Actually my first time trying an RP, and it's different. I'm hoping it'll help with my characterizations. So yea, it's a Naruto AU RP, a 21st century aristocratic society. About half of the Konoha 12 are still open, including Naruto... yea, come play with me! XD

Lastly, thanks to all that reviewed!

That's it! Remember to take a look at the fanart! Thanks for reading and please leave a review.


	9. Five for Fighting, Two for Instigating

**CHAPTER 9:** **Five for Fighting, Two for Instigating**

Eyelashes fluttered as Hinata blinked in disbelief at the door in front of her. Neji stood to one side of her while the Heat's coach stood on the other, and an older man with long, white hair stood beside the door. The door itself was cracked opened a bit; just enough to give the older man a good look inside. At the satisfied laugh that emanated from him, Hinata jumped a bit.

"It looks good Kakashi!" he bellowed while taking large strides over to the team's coach, "you did good!"

"I'm glad you think so, Jiraiya," Kakashi nodded to the man and then looked over to the team's newest addition, "but I'm actually more interested in Hinata's opinion."

"Eh?" Hinata's head darted between the two light haired men, "wh-what is it?"

"Come and see," Neji grabbed her by her wrist and dragged her across the narrow distance of the hallway and threw the door open completely.

Widening her lavender eyes, Hinata took in the room. The walls were painted with the team's colour, while the floor featured the Heat's logo. Across from the door was a stall, one that was meant for a goalie. At the very top of the stall was a label and it read "27 Hyuuga H."

"It's your dressing room," Neji nudged her over the threshold and came to stand beside her, a small smile etched across his features.

"M-mine?" her face remained the epitome of a stunned expression. "And th-those?" she pointed to the base of the stall. Neji turned to look down at her and shrugged.

"Those are your welcome gift," Kakashi interjected, him and Jiraiya coming to stand behind the two teenagers.

"Yep, they're top of the line," a chuckle erupted from Jiraiya, "only the best equipment for my players."

"Top of the line?" Hinata's head swivelled to look at the team's owner, "th-that really wasn't necessary."

It was true, it _really_ wasn't necessary. Though she doubted he realized how the Hyuuga family had accumulated their wealth. Hinata had only played with one brand of goalie pads her entire life, and those certainly weren't it. Nope, she was accustomed to the prized equipment that her family produced. But the equipment never bore the Hyuuga name so it came as no surprise that no one realized giving her goalie equipment would be a waste of sorts. Nonetheless, she graciously accepted the gift. It was the thought that counted after all.

"Well, we'll leave you to get ready," Kakashi nodded to her, "don't worry about the pads, you can use your old ones."

She blinked, it was like he had read her mind, "uh… okay."

"Good luck," Jiraiya waved her off as he exited first, followed by Kakashi, and then Neji.

The door was shut with a click. Hinata padded across the dressing room with deep breaths, she was nervous. Halting in front of the stall, she turned around a squeezed herself between the new goal pads to one side and her large equipment bag to another. She leaned back and let her eyes wander up to the ceiling, while she valiantly attempted to calm her nerves. After seconds, her eyes drifted across the ceiling and down to the wall in front of her, eventually coming to lock on the door, the door plastered with a big sheet of poster paper.

"Huh?" it came out loud. Bolting from her seat, she found herself standing inches from the poster and its large printed "WELCOME!"

Underneath the large words were a blotch of words that closely resembled Neji's hand writing.

_Welcome to the team. Make sure to show everyone how good you are, because I know you can outshine anyone else. Neji._

Hinata scanned over the various other messages, most being the proverbial "welcome and good luck." Down to one corner, she found a small message signed by Shikamaru.

_I don't know why my verbal welcome was not enough, but Neji is making me sign this. So yea, welcome. Remember what I told you, and let's win the championships this year. Oh, and if you need anything, feel free to ask. Nara Shikamaru._

Smiling to herself, she read through the rest of the messages. One by Kiba featured many exclamation marks and words of encouragement. Shino's message was similar, except not with any exclamation marks. From what she could tell, it appeared that Neji had gotten the entire team to sign, though she hadn't found Sasuke's name. Why was she looking for his name in the first place? Weren't they avoiding each other? Then something caught her eye.

_I won't go easy on you. Prove yourself._

It wasn't signed, but really who else would address her like that. Sighing to herself, she headed back to her stall and kneeled down by her equipment. The zipper was pulled open and the items removed with care. Her goalie equipment was put aside while her under-clothes were taken and worn. Minutes after she finished dressing in her sweat wicking shirt and shorts, there was a knock at her door.

"Y-yes?" she asked, looking at an unfamiliar man on the other side of the threshold.

"I'm just here to inform you that you are one of the players that will be made available to the media tonight, and that you are requested to be at the south section of the arena in ten minutes" he finished with a haphazard smile before walking off and leaving the wide-eyed girl bewildered.

"Eh?!" Hinata popped her head out into the hall; her eyes watching the figure disappear in the distance. Suddenly playing for the team didn't seem like such a good. In addition to playing in front of an abnormally large sized crowd, now she had to be interviewed? Groaning to herself, she turned and padded back to her stall before dropping down and closing her hands over her face. As far as she was concerned, Hyuuga Hinata was not an interesting person and no one would be interested in interviewing her. So what was with this madness?

* * *

Down the hall a reasonable distance and away from Hinata's newly converted dressing room, the boys' dressing room was loud with ruckus banter, cheers, jabs, hoots, and hollers. Unlike Hinata's room which was only occupied by one individual, this room was met with the enthusiasm of a team primed and ready to make this season their championship year.

"Ah, this is going to be awesome!" Kiba leaned back into his stall with a satisfied sigh and his eyes half-lidded as he tossed a puck in his hand. He, like most of the other players, was dressed in most of his equipment save for the shoulder pads and his jersey. From the waist down he was fully dressed, adorning hockey shorts, socks, and skates.

"Hn," was the reply he got from the distant Uchiha star.

"Come on, Sasuke!" cheered Naruto as he smacked Sasuke over the shoulder, "don't you ever get pumped up for games. I mean, it's no Suna, but it'll do."

"I am going to pummel that Haku kid," Kiba ignored Sasuke's disinterest and pumped his fist in the air, "prodigy my ass. He's just a pretty little pansy kid who can skate like a figure skater."

Just then a stick was held out in front of the Inuzuka, "Kiba. Tape your stick," Shino instructed… mostly to shut up his friend's boastful mouth.

"Whatever…" he muttered in reply, tossed the puck to Naruto, grabbed the stick, and got up to trudge across the room to where the black tape was placed on a table.

Taking the place of Kiba was the Heat's captain, who sat down with the poise of a leader. "You know they're going to be after you, huh?"

The simple comment elicited a smirked from the raven haired boy as he inclined his head slightly and nodded. Sasuke was ready to take everything they had to throw his way. He and Haku had been rivals since their days in the bantam leagues. Of course, the other boy was always a step or two ahead of him. Since entering the MJHL, nothing had changed and his fire to surpass Kiri's star was still as potent as ever. That was evident from the hit he threw in last year's playoffs, one which had sidelined Haku for a handful of games. It was like pinning a large, round target to his back for every game against Kiri. Something akin to waving a red flag in front of a raging bull or declaring war, because when you took out the team's star player, there were repercussions.

"Especially Hozuki Suigetsu," Neji added, his tone smooth and betrayed nothing.

"That sadistic bastard?!" the blonde and third member of the team's top line bellowed, leaning forward while elbows met with his knees. "He's the dirtiest player I've seen since Kiba."

"I heard that noodle breath!"

"Just tape your stick dog breath," Naruto sent the brunette a taunting wave before chuckling and shifting to face his linemates again. "Right, so what were we talking about?"

"Your mom!" Kiba blasted from across the room accompanied by a few indecent hand gestures.

Instantly, the blonde was launched from his seat and sprang across the room. The puck Kiba had tossed to him was dropped in Sasuke's lap. All the while, Neji and Sasuke paid little attention to the pair of rambunctious teenagers. This type of behaviour was normal for them, and if it didn't go down like this before every game then people would start worrying.

Ignoring the standard commotion, Neji leaned back and crossed his legs over by the ankles. "So, are you expecting as much out of her as I am?" he inquired not too ambiguously.

Sasuke shrugged his reply, "about as much as I expected from you." He didn't look to Neji, but kept his eyes on the puck, throwing up in the air and catching it repeatedly.

The Hyuuga snorted and laughed lightly, "just don't go dropping your gloves. She's not really the feisty type."

"Hn"

As they finished, the door slid open and everyone looked up for the instructions. "Uchiha," the man who had paid a visit earlier to Hinata pointed to Sasuke. "Jiraiya wants you, Hyuuga Hinata, and Kakashi to do pregame interviews today."

Sasuke nodded grudgingly and stood to his feet. The puck which had been passed through a few of the team's players was held idly in his hand. He looked backed to Neji and quirked a brow. In return, Neji held up his hands to catch it, but instead Sasuke smirked and clasped his hand over it before walking out.

He headed down the rubber rug leading through the length of the hall and into the open area for the media to field their questions. It wasn't anything special, just a banner with the team's logo scattered across it for the players to stand in front of. As he turned to corner, he was met with the familiar figure of their team's new goaltender and she looked to be trembling a bit. Either that or she was shivering, but that didn't make much sense to him because she had most of her gear on already. "Walk," he poked her with the puck in the middle of her back. It was reminiscent of the earlier in the day when he literally had to drag her out of the classroom.

Hinata squeaked and whipped around to flinch once she laid eyes on him. "Uh… o-okay," she turned back, eyes wincing, and headed into the area. Kakashi was already there and doing his interview, the interviewers likely asking about his thoughts on the team's new addition. But once the two players entered to visible vantage of the media personnel, their attention shifted and they made their way to the teenagers, a few of them sharing their gratitude with the Heat's coach.

Sasuke and Hinata separated, moving apart to give their coach room to pass. The silver haired man gave her a wink of encouragement from his one, visible eye. She forced a smile.

"Ms. Hyuuga! Ms. Hyuuga!" the throng of media interviewers then separated, half going to Hinata and the other moving over to where Sasuke stood. She cringed inwardly while watching Sasuke field the first question with confidence to spare. He surely wasn't much more talkative, but he was being satisfactorily informative. To top it off, she had sworn she saw him smirking and heard him say something about not bring scared of being a target in the Kiri game. Boy, she was scared.

Turning around to look at the mob in front of her, Hinata forced a hesitant smile and nodded to the person who would ask the first question. "Hinata, right? May I call you Hinata?" a middle aged thrust out a recording device and continued without waiting for her answer, "how does it feel to be the first female to ever play in the MJHL?"

"Um…" her pale eyes darted between the many microphones and recording devices floating in front of her as she spoke tentatively, "I'm v-very happy t-to… uh… be g-given this chance t-to play." She finished and the crowd waited for further elaboration but got none in response except for a slight nod.

"So, then how are the boys treating you?"

Her mouth hung open at the question and she glanced over to Sasuke before turning back, "f-fine." A part of her wanted to whine about Sasuke's mistreatment, but she refrained, only mentioning that she got along with most of the players and it was good having Neji on the team as well. The rest of the questions were of the similar variety, mostly about her being the only girl. Some had asked about how her friends back at the high school had taken to news, some others asked about how the opposition had treated her if she had run into a few of them already.

Ten minutes later and the questions were still going, even asking about her family. Hinata was beginning to feel overwhelmed and flustered by the unwanted attention. Off to the side, Sasuke was leaning against the wall and watching amusedly as he idly tossed the puck up and down. Unlike her, he knew how to answer the questions quickly and concisely, effectively getting rid of the irritating people faster. He had contemplated coming to her rescue, but opted to see how she would handle herself.

However, it didn't take long for him to change his mind as a very persistent young man pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Hyuuga Hinata, do you not feel like you're partially betraying women's teams by agreeing to play here? Some might say you don't belong in a league for male players," he asked with a straight face. Sasuke found his eyes narrowing at their own volition as the glare locked itself on the man. He waited briefly for Hinata to stand up for herself and say something, because, in fact, the league was meant for the finest players of their age group and was never limited to boys only. But when she didn't answer, only giving the interviewer a frightened expression, he pushed off the wall and trudged his way to where she stood.

"We have to get back," he scoffed to the man before grabbing her hand and yanking her away. Hinata tottered after in him in the bottom half of her equipment, stunned that he was dragging her around _again_. Once they turned the corner and vanished from the sight of the media, he let go and pivoted on his feet to face her. "Learn how to stand up for yourself," he reprimanded, "it's hard to believe you're even related to Neji." With a look of discontent, he threw the puck at her and started back to the room.

Hinata was left there to watch his back recede, her lip quivering and an urge to whimper and cry slowly building up. She shook her head, the strands of her indigo hair fluttering before she found the wall and leaned back. The puck she had caught sat in her hand as she stared at it incredulously. Perhaps the man was right and she didn't belong there.

"HINATA!"

"Hm?" she turned her head to where her name had come from and found a smile crossing over her face as three girls sprinted towards her.

"We've been waiting for you," Temari reached her first and brought a hand up to ruffle her hair playfully.

"Yep, we thought maybe we missed you already," TenTen came up beside the blonde and smiled brightly.

Grunting rather unfemininely, Ino pushed between the two other girls, "ah, Kiri's coach is really scary looking." The platinum blonde whined and came up beside Hinata, throwing her arms around the girl, "hold me. I'm scared."

"Stupid," Temari smacked Ino over the head as Hinata giggled. "We're here to support her, not cling to her until she decides to come back."

"Yea, yea…" Ino rolled her blue eyes and released Hinata. "So how's Uchiha been treating you? Do I need to send out a distress call to our lovely Suna boys?" she smirked, "or can I jump him with my hockey stick?"

It started out as a half nod, but she soon just shrugged. "I think he's ignoring me," she answered, "which is fine."

"And the other boys?" TenTen queried with concerned eyes.

"Hmm…" Hinata hummed momentarily before nodding affirmatively, "everything is well. I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

"You'll be awesome, so don't worry." Temari placed an encouraging hand on her shoulder and smiled proudly.

"Oh and we'll be watching you on both ends!" Ino added enthusiastically while her hand held up two tickets, "we have tickets for both ends, so we'll follow when you switch." The girls were working against the norm. Most people liked the sit on the offensive side of the home team just so they could watch the goals, but these girls were choosing to sit on the home team's defensive end as a means of standing beside their friend.

Her face softened and she nodded slowly, "thanks guys." She moved off the wall and spared each one of them hugs.

"Aw, you girls are so cute," said a raspy voice a small distance away. "Especially you," Naruto stepped forward and winked at Ino, but Hinata watched Ino's face contort into a look of repulse. Her best friend then chuckled and motioned to the other girls before waving a quick farewell and brushing pass Naruto without so much as a glance.

"Oh and I met that little pink haired girl, apparently she says she's got you on a leash," Ino shouted as she turned and backpedalled, "she's sitting a couple seats away from us and she's got a really big mouth. But hey, just a word of advice: don't go getting your hopes up, because I think she might like your Uchiha buddy." Ino then swivelled on her feet and walked off, laughing to herself as the two other girls shook their heads.

"Your friend is _mean_," Naruto pouted, "and here I went and said she was cute."

"Sakura probably said something," Hinata blinked as she wondered what could have happened. Her fellow classmate may have said something along the lines of bragging or the like. Maybe she even scorned Hinata, because normally Ino was only like that when provoked.

"Ah, well…" Naruto shrugged before scurrying behind Hinata and nudging her along, "we've got a game to play."

* * *

Standing behind the line of players in the archway leading out to the players' bench and then onto the ice, Hinata leaned forward to look left and right. Most of the players seemed pumped and ready for the game, Naruto and Kiba still shouting insults at each other while other players crashed their sticks against the wall behind them. One of the team's defensemen, a player with thick eyebrows, shouted various calls of enthusiasm. She noticed Neji shaking his head.

Hinata, at this point, was a bucket of nerves. A part of her wanted to run, just kick off her skates and make a dash for it. But running wasn't something she could do, because that meant letting people down, letting down her new team, her family, and her friends that came out to support her. That thought calmed her slightly, but she could still feel her legs quiver.

"Don't be nervous," Hinata heard a calm, smooth voice come from beside her and turned her head to find Shino leaning on the wall beside her.

"Ehh…" she hummed anxiously before steeling herself and nodding her masked head, "I'll t-try."

"And don't let the Kiri players get under your skin either," he added in a tone as even as his first comment, "I'll be there if anything happens."

"Mm," she smiled and nodded again in gratitude.

"So," two fingers suddenly invaded the confines of her mask, poking through her eyeholes, "are you ready?"

Squeaking in surprise, Hinata's arms came up to yank out the fingers and she did so successfully. What met her sight afterward was the familiar face of Inuzuka Kiba, grinning like a boy just given a gigantic lollipop. Flustered, Hinata readjusted her mask while another squeak escaped her mouth as he grabbed the top of her mask and shook it affectionately.

"Ah, you're so cute Hinata," he exclaimed and bent forward to get to eye level with the shorter girl, "like a mouse."

"A mouse?" Shino asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yea, she squeaks," Kiba pointed at her, rudely. "She's like a cute, little, white-eyed mouse."

Shino looked between his friend and then to the girl hastily adjusting and tightening the straps on her mask. "If you say so…"

Just as Hinata finished with her mask and processed the new nickname - which she was okay with – a woman appeared before the team. She held a clipboard in her arm and wore a headset. Hinata decided she looked very professional. Then she clapped her hands loudly to get the boys' attention, and was successful as the talking ceased and everyone turned to give her their attention. "The team from Kiri is out and have taken to their bench, their starting line is out. We're going to do things a bit different today." She smiled at Hinata before continuing, "today is Hyuuga Hinata's debut and she will be the last to be announced of the starting line."

Not knowing exactly what the woman was talking about, Hinata turned to Shino and Kiba on either side of her. Kiba smiled and shook her mask again, and Shino wore a small smile before nodding encouragingly to her.

"Okay. Chop, chop, hurry up boys!"

There were groans as most of the boys waved her off and lined up to head off onto the ice for a quick warm-up skate before taking their spots on the bench. Kiba gave her helmet one last shake before he and Shino headed off with the rest of the players, leaving her standing with the Heat's top offensive line and two other guys she vaguely recognized.

It was mostly silent as she tried to calm her nerves, but it didn't help that Sasuke was a few metres from her and glaring with those enigmatic eyes. At their own accord, her feet sidestepped to her right and she bumped into another body. "Oh, uh, s-sorry… uh," she cringed at her clumsy behaviour and looked up to decipher who she had bumped into.

"Hagane Kotetsu," the older player answered with a charming smile, "one of the team's veterans and you still don't know my name?"

He was joking, but she still didn't catch it. "O-oh, s-sorry," she bowed apologetically.

Chuckling he patted her over the shoulder, "it's alright, kid. But you better remember it now and this guy's name too."

"Oh, uh," Hinata bit down on her lip and stared into the other player's eyes. "I m-met you…um… I-zu-mo?"

The brunette then snickered and nodded, "yea, that's me."

"Wait! You don't remember me?" Kotetsu interrupted, flabbergasted, "but you remember this guy?"

"Ha," Izumo leaned down to where her ears would hear best through her mask, "I think you just hurt his ego."

"Oh," she looked back to Kotetsu who was feigning hurt, albeit quite poorly, and found a smile cracking over her face.

"Hey boys!" Naruto bellowed, "and lady. We're up."

Kotetsu and Izumo walked up ahead of Hinata and toward the three other players and lined up. Just as they coordinated themselves and Neji gave her an encouraging nod, Naruto's name was called out over the loud speakers and he saluted with a grin before disappearing. Next was Neji, and then Sasuke. Hinata could hear the thunderous roar of the crowd, cheering on the boys. Tapping her stick on the rubber floor, she didn't notice Kotetsu and Izumo disappear as well until she heard the announcer begin her entrance call.

"It is the Konoha Heat's honour to debut one of the best goaltenders this organization has seen. She is the star of Konoha High School's championship team and the cousin of your team's captain. The daughter of former MJHLer Hyuuga Hiashi and tonight's starting goalie for the Heat. Please welcome Hyuuga HINATAAAAA!"

Biting down again on her bottom lip, she spun around to face the wall and knocked her mask on it before steeling herself again and walking out the way everyone else had gone. Hinata made to the ice before her eyes finally wandered from her feet and to the packed arena full of cheering fans. She froze in her spot, lips quivering.

"Hinataaa…" Naruto waved to her from the other side of the ice. Then she saw Neji nod to Sasuke briefly. The Uchiha looked disinterested as he skated over to the girl and yanked her sleeve like earlier that day, dragging her the short distance to the spot a little ways from her net.

"Don't let everybody down," he motioned to the crowd with a flick of his wrist. Everyone was cheering, her friends up against the glass off to one side of her net and banging their palms. She couldn't tell what they were saying, but knew they were screaming at the top of their lungs. A few rows up, she saw Matsuri sending her the thumbs up while Hotaru clapped but abruptly stopped as the book in her lap slid off. Glancing passed Sakura and group of other girls holding up signs with players' names, Hinata found her family. Her mom looked like she was going to cry again, her father looked so proud, and Hanabi looked like she would fall over or smack someone over the head from enthusiastically jumping on her seat.

"I w-won't," she reassured before pushing off on her skates and gliding to her net. She went through her usual routine of scraping the ice before the national anthem was sung and announcements were made. The audience got comfortable in their seats, the referees readied themselves, and the players lined up for their opening faceoff.

Neji did a quick scan of his teammates to acquaint himself with their positions before leaning over and tightly gripping his stick.

"Hyuuga," Kiri's player did the same and leaned in, though smirking deviously, "I've heard rumours your cousin's a cutie." When Neji didn't respond, the white haired Kiri player pestered further, "I was thinking that after we beat you," he gave a lopsided grin, "you know… you could introduce me."

"Just play, Hozuki," the Heat's captain answered in a cool tone, unperturbed by the other boy's insinuations. To Neji's left, Sasuke watched inquisitively, though unable to make out the exchange of words.

Once the goalies on either end signalled they were ready, the ref blew the whistle and prepared to drop the puck. Both players swiped their sticks when it was finally dropped, and Kiri came out with the rubber disk as it was passed back to their star player, Haku. The dark haired boy skated over the redline with more finesse than Hinata had ever seen a boy showcase. He was met at the blueline by Sasuke, and they both wore confident smirks.

The two stars collided, but neither relented as they shoved each other along the boards. In the midst of their fierce battle, Sasuke managed to kick the puck out just before he gave Haku one last shove, then skating out to the top of the defensive zone to await a breakout pass. On the defensive were Kotetsu and Izumo, and although they weren't considered Konoha's top defensive pair, they were still highly regarded for their excellent teamwork. That was evident by the way Izumo glided behind Hinata's net to crash into one Kiri's players in another battle along the boards and Kotetsu stood poised at the corner boards to Hinata's left.

All the while the action commenced behind her, Hinata hugged her left post in anticipation of the pass. Finally when the puck popped out and floated along the ice to Kotetsu, she breathed a short-lived sigh of relief. The puck was batted up to Neji waiting at the blueline, but just before the puck left Kotetsu's stick, a body hurtled into him, throwing him to the ice. Hinata's pale eyes widened in disbelief as she watched her teammate collapse in a heap, eyes only glancing up to the back of the player skating off to the bench. _Hozuki_… she mentally read out. In an instant, without her even realizing it, Izumo had dropped his stick and was skating up to the Kiri player. There was a shove and the player turned around to grin maliciously, egging the Heat player on.

"K-Kotetsu…" Hinata called out, attempting to stretch her voice over the cheers of the crowd. It was strange to her, even Temari and TenTen didn't hit _that _hard. Bringing her gaze up to the commotion at the benches, she saw Neji skate up to Izumo and throw an arm over him before dragging him reluctantly away from Hozuki Suigetsu. "C-can you g-get up?" she asked in a quiet tone, skating out of her net and bending over to speak to him.

"Yea…" Kotetsu breathed in deeply, coming up off his stomach and onto his hands and knees.

Breaking away from his Captain, Izumo skated over while grumbling indecent words under his breath. "C'mon, let's get you off the ice," he tucked an arm under Kotetsu's arm and eased him off the ice.

Hinata let a deep breath out as she made her way back to her net and mentally regrouped. Barely a few minutes into the first game of her MJHL career and she was already starting to have second thoughts. She sipped from her bottle and tried to drown out the cheers and chants, because she just needed to focus on the game at hand. In the middle of the ice were the two team captains, negotiating penalties for either team. Off on the Kiri bench, their coach, Momochi Zabuza, appeared satisfied with his players' antics. To Hinata's right, she could hear the voices of her friends… screaming something about Suna leading their game.

A toot of the whistle to signal the restart of play and players hopped over the boards to change lines. There were no penalties listed on the clock. Kiba, along with two linemates, Shino, and Lee entered to ice.

"The bounty's off Haku," Inuzuka chimed to the pale, dark haired player to his right. "It's all about Hozuki Suigetsu tonight!"

The puck was dropped again in the Heat's offensive zone, to the faceoff circle on the right of their goalie. It was swiftly won by Konoha's player and passed back to Lee who took two steps to his right before finding a clear shooting lane. He wound his stick up high and ground his skates deep into the ice, but his eyes widened and thick eyebrows knotted as a player dove to poke the puck away. In a matter of seconds, the puck was sitting openly a foot off the inside of blueline, waiting in all its glory for someone to jump on it.

Then, Hinata's heart skipped a beat as Lee swivelled around but wasn't able to catch it before Kiri's center pounced on it first and set off at a blistering speed, on a clean breakaway. Off about a metre from him, she saw someone with the identical face, and there was no one else for a good three metres after that. Lee had gotten himself caught up and her closest teammate was Shino. It was essentially two players versus her. She could hear the crowd go silent, and then all that was left was the sound of skates scratching on the ice and grunts of players working their legs to catch up.

_Don't mess this up, don't mess this up, don't mess this up!_She screamed in her mind and did everything she could to soothe her breathing. The leading player swerved to the left and she followed, coming out of her net to cut down on the angle, but all the while still trying to keep watch of the other incoming player. The stick lifted up and he smirked under the transparent visor of his helmet, but Hinata didn't go down to stop the shot as she caught the player's eyes direct their way to his partner on her left. His stick came down from its short incline and pushed the puck across the ice. Pushing off her legs, Hinata sent her arms to the other side of her net first and then threw her entire body over. The other player shot the puck and Hinata slid on the ice, hoping and praying it didn't go in. Then, she felt something impact the padding of her legs before seeing the puck bounce off and fall to a stop. She scrambled forward and pulled the piece of frozen rubber into her body just as the Kiri players stopped in front of her, giving her an icy face-wash as the skates shaved off the ice surface. Immediately, the whistle was blown to signal the end of the play.

The arena erupted into boisterous cheers as she breathed in and out deeply, the cold shards of ice melting on her face as she looked up to see her teammates shove their way between her and the opposition.

"Hey," Kiba's face appeared in front of hers as, grinning, "awesome save, _Mouse_."

"Mm," Hinata nodded and climbed to her feet with his assistance, the puck still tightly grasped in her gloved hand.

"I am deeply sorry for my mistake," Lee interjected, apologetically bowing his head.

"We all make mistakes," the spectacle wearing hockey player stopped as he skated by, "but you did good against the Demon brothers, Hinata."

A smile formed on her lips as she nodded happily and looked down at the puck in her hand, her first save. "Wh-wha… Demon brothers?" her head whipped up and her eyes locked on Shino.

"Don't worry about them!" Kiba smacked her shoulder roughly, like if it were with any of the boys, "they're not all that great. I mean, they couldn't score on you!"

"Ah! Hinataaaa!" Naruto bowled through the players surrounding her and wrapped his arm around her neck, "I almost had a heart attack there! Man, that was an awesome save! You did the whole diving across the crease and stacking the pads thing!" The blonde proceeded to imitate her, flailing his arms this way and that as the rest of the players headed to the bench to give way to the top line again.

Hinata let out a light laugh at Naruto's imitations. Just then, her cousin skated by and placed a hand atop her head before leaning in and uttering an 'congratulations' amidst the cheers of the crowd. She thanked him with a nod before looking off to see Sasuke standing by the side boards, waiting for the faceoff and clearly not intending to come and congratulate her.

"Do you want to keep it?" The ref glided up to her and pointed his hand at the puck in her hand.

"Y-yes, please," she nodded fervently. The man gave her a gentle smile before removing it and skating off towards the Heat's bench, where the puck was tossed and caught by Yamato.

Play resumed shortly as the referees motioned for the players to line up for the faceoff, which wasn't won by any one player in particular. Instead, the scene betrayed two players swatting unsuccessfully at the puck before Neji managed to kick it a few feet to be picked up by Sasuke. Hinata found herself mesmerized and frightened all at the same time while watching the two teams battle. Clearly, Konoha was the better team, winning more battles along the boards and getting more shots on goal. But even with that said, she had to credit all the players, because she had never seen anyone hit so hard, skate so fast, or fight until the bitter end. Their play was nothing like playing with the girls, who were more fluid in their movements, albeit tough as well. However, it appeared as though the boys weren't looking to make pretty plays with fancy passing. No, they were hitting the front of the net hard and pelting the opposition's goalie.

It was a good fifteen minutes since the start of the play before the puck made its way back to Hinata. Seeing her two defensemen coming back in time to get between her and the two incoming players, she came out enough to not lose sight of the incoming players behind the bodies of her defence.

The Konoha defensemen pushed forward to meet the opposing player in an attempt to take out the body, leaving the puck for someone else to pick up. But as he neared, the player looked up to reveal the face of Kiri's star, Haku. He leaned to one side and waited for the player to follow before deeking to the inside of the defensive player as he fell out of position. With an apathetic expression, Haku lined his stick up before lifting it up and sending it back down to shoot the puck up and soaring towards the top right corner of Hinata's net.

Jumping to action, she pushed off her legs and raised up enough the catch her shoulder on the puck. The black disk bounced off and fell to the ice before Hinata dropped down and sprawled out across the width of her crease to cover it with her glove, and she managed to briefly before she heard her other defensemen grunt and get tossed aside by the other incoming Kiri player. Her eyes widened when the blade of a stick entered her vision and poked at her glove, successfully plucking the puck out from under before she could pull it into her body. In her state of panic, she lifted half her body up to block the quick shot. The puck sprung back and onto his stick for another hurried shot, which was also saved. It was a race between player and goaltender, who could get up first, Hinata or the puck? On the third shot, Hinata waved her hand up to attempt a catch, but only managed to rebound it off her arm. Then the fourth try came and she watched with worried eyes as the disk flipped up, spinning in the air as it vertically ascended over her body. Her arms moved to try and save the goal, but everything happened too fast, all in a matter of seconds. The red light behind her net went off as the puck slid across the goal line and the crowd exclaimed their unanimous unhappiness.

Sighing, Hinata came to her knees and sat with her head bowed. Things were not working out the way she wanted them to. What was even stranger, the player that had just scored was still standing in front of her. With absolutely no idea what he was still doing there, she stood up and tried to ignore him, but there was a chuckle, an almost devilish chuckle.

"So that was the magnificent goalie everyone was getting all hyped up about?"

Hinata cringed at his words and turned to look up at him, only to see strands of silver hair flaring out at the bottom of his helmet. She recognized him… _Hozuki_. His questin was left unanswered as she backed up against the crossbar of her net.

"Because I was expecting something special," he leaned in once he noticed how uncomfortable she was getting, "maybe you should, you know, just be a girl and play nice." He gave her a lascivious grin, revealing his sharp teeth, and Hinata leaned further back over the top of her net to gain distance between their faces. "I'll even take you out to a nice dinner."

Her eyes tried to glance around him in search of help, hoping Neji would come to her rescue. Maybe even Ino, who she could hear screaming. Then without further thought, an arm passed her vision and the other player was shoved away callously before a familiar Konoha jersey stepped in front of her. But as her eyes roamed over the number on the back, she wondered why it was _him_.

"Uchiha," Suigetsu greeted with a taunting smirk, "would have never expected you to jump to the girl's defence."

"Just stay away from her," Sasuke retorted, stoically.

"Yea? And what if I don't?"

In a few strides, Sasuke was up in front of the other boy, head careening in. Then another shove was handed out as Suigetsu was forced back a step. "I hear the bounty's been move," threatened the Uchiha as he shook the gloves loose of his hands and they fell to the ice. The next item her removed was his helmet, letting his spiky hair out of its confines.

"Wait," Kiri's silver haired player raised his gloved hand up to point between Sasuke and Hinata, "she just joined the team and she's already got you whipped?"

At this point, the crowd was cheering, a few chanting "fight, fight, fight!"

Naruto and Neji exchanged looks of amusement before Naruto shrugged and hollered, "kick his ass, Sasuke!" To anyone, Sasuke looked cool and contained, but to his linemates and close friends, they could see the unpleased glint in his eyes.

In the blink of Hinata lavender eyes, Sasuke's left arm clasped onto the other player's jersey while his right hand released an onslaught of punches.

"Take off your helmet, you pansy!" Kiba yelled from the bench, though it couldn't be heard over the roar of the crowd.

Sasuke kept punching while Suigetsu shrunk and attempted to block the fist. But once the helmet of hit off, Suigetsu's balled fist came up into an uppercut and caught Sasuke's jaw. He grunted at the sudden sting. Both players stopped, grabbing onto each other jerseys and waiting for the other to act first. They pulled and yanked at the other, twirling on their skates in circles.

Hinata bit down on her bottom lip as she watched through the cage of her mask, eyes locking onto the beads of crimson liquid marking their path down pale skin. "H-he's bleeding," she tried to grab the attention of the closest ref, "stop them." Her request was returned with a curt nod, but nothing was done until the head ref decided neither player was going to do anything. The refs made their move, skating in and locking arms around the players' shoulders to pull them apart. They separated willingly, seeing as both players were tired from the tussle. The audience clapped their approval, deeming Sasuke the winner of the tilt. Along the benches, players knocked their sticks against the boards.

When the fighting players were turned around and no longer facing each other, Hinata caught Sasuke's eyes as they narrowed on her. "Um, th-thanks," she said uncertainly.

"I didn't fight for you," Sasuke looked down on her with stern, black eyes, "it's nothing I wouldn't have done for anyone else on the team."

"R-right," she nodded and swivelled on her skates and pushed off the glide back into her net.

Once she was no longer looking at him, Sasuke headed towards the penalty box, hissing at the sting in his hand as blood seeped out of the cut. Fighting for a teammate was something he had done countless times, but he couldn't say he had ever bled for one. Rarely did he act so impulsively that he punched at a player's helmet before trying to remove it.

"Five for fighting and two for instigating," the ref cut him off, "the period's almost over, so go get yourself stitched up."

"Hn"

* * *

**A/N:** Bwahaha... I'm back after nearly 3months. Sorry, school kept me really busy. Erm, this chapter was difficult for me to write, probably because I've been away from the fic so long and haven't watched a hockey games in months! This entire game was suppose to come and go in this chapter, but then it would last way too long, so it'll be completed quickly next chapter as well as reactions from friends and family.** OCQueen** said I needed maple syrup in this chapter, but I'm going to hold out on the surgary goodness til next chapter! They'll leave for the roadtrip after the game's done and I'm planning to have their last roadtrip game be against Suna. Everyone is looking forward to the entrance of Gaara and Kankuro... hehe, makes me feel evil for holding it off.

And, no, Neji didn't ask anyone to look out for Hina at the school. Shino is acting at his own volition. The depth of Neji's, Sasuke's, and Naruto's friendship has yet to be revealed. It's deep. Also, the depth of relations with the Suna boys will be revealed when they make their grand entrance.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Please drop a review! Check my LiveJournal for progress updates on chapters.


	10. A Star Is Born

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 10: A Star Is Born**

Off to one side of the room sat Uchiha Sasuke, the cut across his knuckles being mended by the team's medical staff. The older, balding man was seated beside the young hockey player, his experienced hands working diligently to stitch the wound. As Hinata walked over the threshold in to the team's dressing room, she glanced over in his direction and saw the familiar scowl plastered to his face. She would have guessed that by now she would have been use to it, but it appeared to be anything but. That one little facial expression still managed to send a shiver through her body every time their eyes met, and this time was no different.

Once his dark eyes met her pale ones, she felt her entire body stiffen, petrified in the doorway. She inwardly wondered if he blamed the injury on her, if it would not have happened if she was able to stand up for herself. At least once in her life she wished she wasn't so easily scared. Perhaps he just hated her that much and it would be better off if she just left the team.

"Hinata!" yelped a voice as two arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind. Kiba pulled her back enough to look down into her mask and she found herself leaning against his chest, "why are you standing in the doorway?"

"O-oh! S-sorry, I'll move," she stammered, pulling herself forward and away from her friendly teammate. "I was j-just distracted."

"It's no use thinking about that goal now," the team's silver-haired coach stepped around the two bodies and looked down at the girl with a smile hidden behind his mask, "it's done and over with. We'll get it back," he added with a reassuring pat to her padded shoulder. Kakashi then stepped forward and motioned for the players to take their seats.

Hinata was nudged forward by Kiba and eventually found a spot beside Shino. Neji gave her a curt nod from his stall near Sasuke and Naruto flashed her a spectacular grin, a grin that would have given everyone the impression that they were winning the game. The truth was they weren't. Kiri was up one – nil and Hozuki Suigetsu had managed to steal a goal, even provoking the usually calm Uchiha.

"Okay," Kakashi clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, "hm, what shall I say?" He looked over to the assistant coach for direction, but received a shrug of his shoulders.

"How's Kotetsu?" Izumo inquired, pushing his damp hair out of his face, though most of it just flopped back.

Quirking one of his eyebrows, Kakashi leaned back to glimpse into the small, conjoined room, "ah, he looks fine." The player in question was stripped down to his shirt and shorts, the hockey equipment tossed to one side. Another member of the medical staff was stretching out the boy's limbs, testing for where the pain seemed to come from. "Yea," Kakashi nodded, "fine."

"Well, that was informative," Shikamaru yawned and slouched in an empty stall, squished between Chouji and one of Konoha's more quieter players.

"Yes," the coach nodded in agreement, "I think it was very informative."

Finding the conversation odd in respect to what she was accustomed to under the reign of Mitarashi Anko, Hinata leaned over to Shino and questioned quietly, "is h-he always like this?"

The boy returned her question with a vague nod before speaking, "this is only the beginning. He hasn't added his signature line yet."

"Signature line?"

Kiba straightened up, one hand coming to cover the bottom half of his face as he imitated their coach, "look under the underneath," he mumbled under the palm.

"Huh?" Hinata queried with a slight tilt of her head, "what's that m-mean?"

"Who knows," the dog-loving hockey player shrugged.

Suddenly she felt a pair of eyes on her, but they felt different this time. It wasn't Sasuke glaring at her. That feeling she was well accustomed to by now, but not that it made for an easier time. Hinata shifted her gaze away from Kiba and straight forward to find Kakashi bent down and looking back into her eyes, "it means you must look _under_ the underneath when there's a problem you need to solve."

"Um… o-okay," she nodded quickly, hoping he would move on to something else… someone else.

Coincidentally, the coach did move on, standing back up and turning to look back at the rest of the team. He only promptly requested Hinata remove her mask before he started to instruct the rest of his team. The man went on to drill the team on their few flaws of the first period. Fortunately, the lecture didn't last nearly as long as the intermission was. Time was still abundant for the players to mull over the current predicament. But before Kakashi ended his short speech, he turned to Sasuke with a curious tilt of his head, brows furrowed as he probed the raven haired boy with his eyes, "why'd you get so riled up?"

"I didn't get riled up," Sasuke retorted, his tone dark and in complete denial.

"Ha!" Kiba pointed a finger offensively, "you so went and lost your temper this time."

"I concur," Lee added, a charmingly bright smile sparkled as he leaned forward and careened his eyes to the Uchiha, "it appears you're more protective of our sweet Hinata than you let on."

The authorities, members of the coaching staff, looked between Lee and Sasuke. The latter's jaw tensed visibly and Lee simply smiled… until he realized his assistant captain was decidedly not happy with his innocent observation. Lee retreated into his stall, shrinking back far enough so he was out of Sasuke's sight. Hinata followed suit with Lee and leaned back, pulling her mask back on as she felt familiar eyes glaring holes into her; straight through her goalie pads and everything.

There was a light knock on the door and the same female voice that ushered them out onto the ice called to the team, "five minutes, boys!"

* * *

Most of the seats around them had been vacated in favour of getting snacks and such, but the three girls didn't move. Their faces wore thoughtful expressions as they looked between each other now and then, furrowed eyebrows displaying their disbelief.

"Okay, okay, we need to go over this again," TenTen waved her arms as she shifted to look at the two girls on her left, "Hozuki Suigetsu scored, then he bullied Hina, who then shrank down to the size of a pea because he is freaky looking, and then…"

"Uchiha Sasuke steps in and plays hero," Temari completed, looking past Ino and to TenTen, "why didn't Neji step in?"

"Bastard…" Ino cursed under her breath as she crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. The blonde was slouched in her seat, much like a child deprived of her obligatory hockey-game-chocolate-ice-cream-malt.

TenTen leaned out to get a look at Ino's discontented face, her usually pretty, blue eyes burning with ire. "Did you just call my boyfriend a bastard?" she questioned, a little smirk of amusement on her face.

"No!" Ino looked to her brunette friend incredulously, "why in the world would I call Neji a bastard? I was referring to the jerk of an Uchiha. He makes Hinata's life horrible and then jumps in and defends her?! Seriously! What's his problem?!"

The Sabaku shrugged and got comfortable in her seat again as Kiri's players made their way back on the ice. "Why _didn't_ Neji do anything?" she queried silently.

TenTen shook her head, exacerbated, and sighed, "there's something going on between him and Uchiha. I don't know what it is, but he's _letting_ Uchiha treat Hinata like that. They have that…" she fumbled with her words, gesturing awkwardly with her hands, "you know, male bond-trust thing going on. Like skinship, but without the touchy feely."

Their team captain cracked a smile, "skinship without the touchy feely is just friendship. The whole point of _skinship _is the touchy feely between boys."

"Now you're getting bogged down on novel details," TenTen replied with a wave of her hand. "Oh well, I'd rather not imagine Neji getting all touchy feely with Uchiha anyway," she shrugged before sliding forward in her seat as the Heat finally came out onto the ice for the second period.

They watched with great interest as Hinata led the group out, followed by the rest, who took a quick warm-up skate before exiting off to the bench. The indigo-haired Hyuuga scraped away the ice at her net, and then stretched her limbs. It was clear that their coach wasn't icing their top line, but opted instead to throw out the fourth line and the top defensive pair. One of the players glided up to her, head inclined downward as he exchanged a few words with her amidst the cheers of the fans. Hinata nodded confidently with a smile just as he turned and skated off to ready for the faceoff.

"A-bu-rame?" TenTen tilted her body over Ino's lap, "we like him, right?"

Temari did the same and nodded, "think so. Haven't really heard anything bad about him."

At that, Ino merely rolled her eyes and retrieved her phone from the pocket of her jeans. The fancy schmancy device lit up and she scrolled through the various applications at her disposable. With a few clicks Ino had what she needed. So she stood up and cupped her hands to her mouth, "Hina! Suna is leading 4-0! You better not lose this game or they will never let you live this down!"

Hinata's ears perked up and she twisted her head around to give her friends a gentle smile. Inwardly she repeated those words with the image of the two boys doing just that, not letting her live it down.

* * *

"Damn!" Kiba roared, slamming the penalty box door before kicking it with his skate. Just then the referee skated by and picked up the puck as it sat idly in front of the sin-bin. "Hey!" the Inuzuka lammed his gloved hands on the glass, "that was _NOT_ charging and you damn well know it, you pansy ass!"

Naruto slid on the white bench, head inclined to look at his fellow teammate. "Hey," he said curtly, wearing a grin as his eyes squinted, "how's it going, buddy?"

"That was not charging!" Kiba echoed his earlier words before dropping down beside Naruto. "This sucks for the little mouse," he muttered grudgingly.

"Hinata?" the blonde questioned and received a nod in response, "heh, no kidding, eh? 5-on-3's never go good for the goalie. Oh well, at least I don't have sit here all by myself."

Back on the ice, the ref was waiting for the clock to be turned back. When the whistle went on Kiba's penalty, a few seconds had been lost in a short delay of the officials' reactions. Fortunately, this gave the Konoha players time to get ready for the ensuing 5-on-3. Hinata especially was using the time to mentally prepare herself.

Somehow miraculously, they had scraped out of the second without any mishaps. No goals had been scored on either side and no fights were fought. It appeared as though Kiri's players learned not to pick on the Heat's newest addition or else they would face the wrath of a certain Uchiha's fist. Even with the scoreless second, they managed to keep the fans enthralled, throwing hits left and right, getting breakouts on odd-man rushes, and coming within a hair's width away from a goal on a few chances.

Sadly, the third period didn't seem to be going their way. Kiri, a mediocre team, was still up by one goal and their goalie had stonewalled every shot the Heat sent his way. At the thirteen minute mark, which left seven minutes left, Naruto lifted his stick up and unintentionally caught one of the opposing players, an immediate high-sticking was called. But upon further investigation and a stream of crimson blood, Naruto was assessed a double minor for high-sticking _and_ causing injury, meaning a heaping four minutes in the box. Two minutes were killed off with no catastrophe befalling them until the whistle went again, this time to send the feisty Inuzuka to the penalty box.

There were five minutes left of the game and the ref whistled the players into the top faceoff circle, the red circle to Hinata's left and a little ways in from her blueline. Her lavender eyes scanned the backs of her teammates. Lee and Shino would support her defensively while Neji was the lone offensive player. The players lined up, Hinata crouched, and the arena erupted with chants of encouragement. However, she heard none; the puck dropping was like a single pin hitting the concrete floor of the arena's underbelly, clanking with a ding. Time slowed but her heart was pounding, thumping like there wasn't enough blood getting to her peripheries, sending the organ into overdrive.

Either way, Hinata steeled herself and pushed any negative thoughts and fears away. There were things that needed to get done and she knew it would come soon, especially since Neji lost the faceoff and Kiri swiped the rubber disk back, forcing Konoha's three remaining players to fall back and form a triangle in front of the anxious girl. The opposing players passed between each other while skating side to side in an effort to throw off Konoha's players.

A pass along the blueline and Neji sunk down, reaching his stick out in an effort to intercept the pass but failed as he fell out of position. It wasn't in their favour as puck had come to Haku of all people, a player with unmatched precision. Rumour among the league was that one should never enter a game of darts with him; it was guaranteed that you'd lose. Not that darts mattered in a hockey game…

The boy hooked his stick up just a little and let the wrist shot go once the Heat's captain was down and the shooting lane freed up. This shot proved to be no problem for the Hyuuga's superb goaltender. Hinata slid across the ice and lifted her blocker glove to deflect it off. The only snag was that she couldn't find the room to swipe it out of midair with her glove, so it bounced to the ground.

The puck landed not far from Shino and he slapped it up to the blueline with every intention of sending it the length of the ice but it was caught at the blueline. He let out a frustrated sigh and urged his tired legs to keep fighting when all they wanted to do was rest. Like before, the other team cycled the puck and pelted Hinata with shots at every opportunity they got. For her part, she fought relentlessly. She did everything from jumping, sliding, reaching, diving, to scrambling every which way the puck went. After all that, she was tired and so were her teammates as there was only forty seconds left on both penalties and no one had gotten the opportunity to change.

The exhaustion became particularly apparently when Lee, to Hinata's right, chased after a pass between two players and tripped over a strange dip in the ice, sending him toppling over as a familiar face skate around him and came in on her. She looked Suigetsu in the eyes and lined her body up with his, though she was edging to her left in anticipation of a cross crease pass. Frighteningly, it didn't come and he deked around her, pulling the puck to her left and waiting until she followed before pulling back to her right where she was out of position. The round object glided in, on a straight path to pass over the red goal line. She knew that regardless of what happened she couldn't just give up because she had fallen out of position. No, she would keep on fighting until it was too late.

So with that resolve, she kicked her leg out while she fell back into a laying position, her entire body sprawled across the crease. To her astonishment, the blade of her skate caught the top of the puck just as it drifted halfway over the line. Still, she knew that wouldn't do because he would soon come into continue to pester the puck some more. It was on instinct that she brought her goal stick to the outside of her leg to help fight against Suigetsu's whacks of his stick. Then she closed her legs together and held on valiantly for the ref to blow the whistle.

The referee stood behind the net with his feet planted on the red bar that circled around the bottom. He was sprawled forward to the point the he was looking down at an angle directly above from where the puck had almost squeaked through. Hinata winced and held her legs against the pokes at the puck. For a goal to be declared the entire puck had to cross the line and she was certain it hadn't. But it didn't matter because the object of interest was out of sight anyway and the whistle went. Even if the Kiri players argued that it was a goal, the ref would wave it off as a no-goal because of inconclusive evidence. No video replay would suffice in determining whether or not the puck crossed over the line. Then again, it was quite apparent where the puck lay when Hinata relaxed after the whistle and opened her goal pads to reveal the puck sitting a good two inches away from the goal line, a definite no-goal.

"Tch," Kiri's silver-haired player scoffed as he turned and skated back to his bench for a line change.

A small surge of accomplishment coursed through her body seeing Hozuki Suigetsu's displeased expression, even a subtle smile creeping across her features.

"Thanks Hinata," Neji skated by and gave her a gentle nudge with his stick before making his own way back to the bench. Shino gave her a grateful nod while Lee bowed his head and apologized.

No thanks were needed for Hinata. Her job was to stop the puck and any praise she got was a bonus… However, it was clear she wasn't going to get any praise from a certain obsidian eyed hockey player as he hopped the bench and stepped on the ice. Sasuke was fully rested in comparison to the other players as a result of the minor cut to his hand. It was minor and surely would not stop him from playing out the rest of the penalty kill.

He didn't even pay her a glance as he and the two defensemen skated over to take the next faceoff to her right. This time Hinata stood with a little more confidence after being pelted with a decent handful of shots. And this time Konoha won the face off with Sasuke swiping it back to one of the defensemen who then proceeded to cycle it around the backside of Hinata's goal to the other player. He took a few strides before smacking it down the ice to brace for the incoming check.

As the puck slid down the length, the crowds cheered the winding down of the penalties. There was still enough time left on the clock for one last rush before Naruto and Kiba returned to the game. The two players were already standing up in the penalty box as Kiri regrouped and started back into Konoha end. The puck was dumped once the first few players stepped over the blueline and then chased into the corner where a player from both sides met and battled. The Heat's player lost and the rubber disk squeaked up the side where another player was waiting patiently with his stick raised for the slap shot. The blade came down and the puck was propelled forward, breaking through the air. Down at the other end, Kiri's goalie clanked his goal stick on the ice to warn his teammates that Konoha's imprisoned players were due to be released in seconds.

Hinata held her breath as the puck whipped towards her… until her defensemen dropped down to the ice and took it off his shins. But there was no time to breathe a sigh of relief as Sasuke promptly pick the puck up and called out to his best friend just as the door to the penalty box swung open and both previously captive players stepped out.

The blonde grinned from ear to ear as he expertly took the pass to his stick at the painted redline and skated in on the goalie, Kiba being the only other player trailing behind him. While he skated in, the goalie came out to cut down the angle. Instead of shooting, Naruto dropped the pass between his legs to Kiba before cutting off to the side. The Inuzuka wore a similar grin as he sent a wicked slap shot, which… missed its intended target entirely and smacked right into the goalie's mask, between where his eyes would be.

"Whoops," Kiba murmured as he came to a stop when the goaltender slumped over, very much like the Heat's first real encounter with Hinata.

"Whoa," Naruto came up beside his penalty box partner and looked up with bewilderment, "did you miss or was that on target?"

"No, I missed."

Kiri's players were quick to come to their goalie's defence, shoving Kiba and Naruto away while the team's trainer came out to check on the boy. The pair backed up to where the rest of their teammates were and Hinata skated all the way out to where Kiri's blueline was, her concerned eyes locked on the goalie opposite to her. Her breathing was heavy; she knew exactly how that sort of hit felt and she glanced over to Sasuke to catch him looking at her, but he wasn't glaring or scowling. His expression was a little softer than apathetic before he turned and headed for the bench.

Unfortunately, and it pained her to see this, Kiri's goalie was helped off the ice to be replaced by their backup. Hinata bowed her head and clanked her stick on the ice as the crowd clapped encouragingly.

"Hinata!" she snapped up to find Kakashi standing up on the bench and waving her over, "watch me. We're going to pull you for the extra attacker."

She gave a nod of understanding before coming back into her net to finish off the less three minutes left of play. And so when play restarted it was Konoha's second line that moved out, giving the first a breather in preparation for the last haul. Both teams skated back and forth, checking and swiping at the puck to gain clean possession in a last ditch effort to either solidify the score as it was or get the tying goal. No shots were had on either end as both teams understood the importance of not letting any goals in if they hoped to come out winners. At just more than one minute left, Konoha took a shot that deflected off a stick somewhere on its way to the goal but it shot up and over the glass, into the crowds of fans jumping to catch themselves a game souvenir.

The play would restart in Konoha's offensive zone, so Hinata looked up to her coach to receive a quick wave to come to bench. Once she stepped off the ice, the Heat's fourth offensive player hopped over and the six players took their positions. Hinata's net was left unguarded in hopes of scraping out a tying goal.

She sidestepped around the bench's door and found an empty spot beside Chouji who greeted her with a salute. Together, the goaltenders watched attentively as the Heat's very best players stepped onto the ice and made their way down to where the faceoff was being held. Hinata could feel her heart beating erratically again. The sight of her empty net was disturbing her on so many levels.

Even if she knew and fully understood the coach's decision, the Hyuuga still clasped her eyes shut as the crowd roared when the puck was dropped. She couldn't watch but she could tell by how her teammates were cheering that things were beginning well. Then there was a hand resting on her shoulder and she opened her eyes before turning to find Chouji smiling sweetly at her, "don't worry so much."

"I… I c-can't help it," she informed forlornly.

Just then a ding drew her attention back to the game at hand and the crowd let out a simultaneous "aww" as the puck bounced off the crossbar and missed the goal. After a handful of cycles and a few shots that either went wide or were blocked right off the bat by one of Kiri's players, a pass was intercepted and sent down the length of the ice. Lee sped off after it followed by an opposing player as the puck slid within two feet of going in the empty net. Hinata's heart skipped a beat as her breath hitched in her throat.

Sasuke pumped his legs and went straight for her net, guarding the right side as the two players met in the corner and poked and prodded the puck. The Kiri player was a bit bigger than Lee and managed to shove the bowl cut wearing hockey player off, swiping the disk back to another player who shot the puck towards the net. Sasuke dropped to his knees and slid over all too late as the puck trickled past him. The Heat player's dropped down to the bench with sighs and grunts of disapproval as Kiri celebrated their second goal, the clincher.

Hinata looked up to the clock to see a measly ten seconds left. People that had stayed in hopes that Konoha would pull out a win were getting out of their seats and leaving the arena to beat the rush. They knew it was over and the home team had essentially lost. With ten seconds the players would at least try to break the shutout Kiri had. Unfortunately, when play restarted the Heat lost the faceoff. Kiri took the puck behind their own net to run the clock down until the buzzer went and their bench cleared to celebrate their victory over the MJHL's top team of the west.

Dejectedly, Hinata skated off with her teammates, paying little attention to the proud cheers of a few fans that had made their way down to the glass to cheer on their new goalie. No worries though, she would get her moment to appreciate the backing that had developed over the course of the last two and a half hours.

Once she made it into the archway, Hinata was stopped by the woman from earlier. She smiled brightly to the shy girl and announced, "second star of the game, Miss Hyuuga Hinata."

"S-second star?" Hinata's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief.

"Mmhm," the woman gave her a shoulder pat and nodded, "quite the splash you made in your first game; one goal out of thirty-four shots."

The deep voice of the announcer went off and announced the third star of the game. It was the Kiri goalie that had gone down on a misplaced shot by Kiba. Hinata stepped out of the archway to watch as the boy came out from his bench and waved to the fans before retreating back in. The announcer next called out a name that was all too familiar to her. Hinata's name echoed through the arena and she nervously walked out of the archway and stepped out onto the ice to give her own wave.

It was then that she finally noticed the small crowd gathered at the end of Konoha's bench, on the spectator side of the glass. The group was entirely made up of young girls who clapped and screamed their appreciation. The lone male amongst the group was a young father; his daughter was held in his arms. She adorned a miniature Konoha Heat jersey and waved enthusiastically to her newest role model as Hinata felt her eyes go hot with tears. Hinata gave them a bashful smile and waved before she exited off the bench again.

The first star was handed to Kiri's player… the one that had scored the winning goal, but Hinata didn't care enough to stick around so she scurried off to her private dressing room. In contrast to the noisy atmosphere in the arena, it was serene in her room and allowed her to reflect on her first game. She undressed and showered in the tiny shower tucked away to one corner before dressing in her dress suit. Hinata really appreciated that the team had gone so far as to even add an individual shower into her room.

She brushed out her hair before coming up to her equipment bag to pack away her things when there was a knock on the door. "Are you decent?"

"Y-yea, come in," she responded and twisted from her position to see the door slide open, revealing Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Hey, congrats on the second star," Chouji waltz in with a bag of potato chips in his hand, "man, Neji looks so proud."

Shikamaru stepped in and found a spot along the wall to lean on, "just a heads up; there's no team meeting so just take your stuff to the bus when you're done."

"Mm," she nodded and zipped up her bag, "I'm d-done. We can go." Hinata stood up and grabbed the handle of her bag and pulled it as the wheels rolled.

"Alright then, ladies first," Shikamaru gestured as he pulled the door open and held it for her. Gratefully, Hinata walked through and into the hall. The three goalies strolled to the players' exit of the arena, but Hinata abruptly stopped when she caught sight of someone with long, dark hair. He was rather feminine looking and she easily recognized him as Kiri's star, Haku.

"Um, I'll catch up," she instructed to the two before receiving shrugs as they sauntered off to the exit. Her bag dropped down to the concrete floor and she hastily dug through one of the outer pockets before finding a small box. "Ex-excuse me," she called out meekly.

Haku turned around and raised an eyebrow to the girl that nearly matched his rather short stature, "yes?"

"Uh… h-how's your goalie?"

The boy opposite her tilted his head, streams of dark hair falling off his shoulders, "why do you ask?"

"O-oh, I'm j-just concerned," Hinata answered before holding the small box out in both her hands, "i-it's just tea, but it h-helps with headaches. At least it helped wh-when I was hit."

"Ah, alright," he took the box from her hand and eyed it before offering a gentle smile, "I'll pass it on to him with your regards."

Hinata smiled back and nodded just as the rest of Kiri's team came out from their room. Off to where she had come, Sasuke walked out. His dark eyes darted between her and Haku before he looked back at her with a questioning look.

"What are you doing?" he stood over her and glared at his long time rival, "the bus is waiting." Then, without even waiting for her answer, he clutched the handle of her bag with one hand while the other found its way to the small of her back and nudged her to walk, but much more gently this time than the other occasions.

What Sasuke didn't expect was the large hand that came down over his spiky hair and ruffled it. "Sasuke!" the voice rumbled, causing the young Uchiha to smack the hand away.

"What do you want? _Kisame,_" Sasuke ground out, every word laced with malice as he stepped back, putting himself between the man and Hinata.

She watched curiously. There was no doubt in her mind at who the man was. He was part owner of the Kiri team and appeared to have come out to watch his team's tilt with Konoha.

Kisame chuckled, "I just wanted to say hi, and to the pretty girl too." He smiled and waved, which Hinata returned apprehensively.

"It's done then," Sasuke turned around and put his hand back where it had been and continued to nudge her along.

They made it a few steps before the man asked a peculiar question, one that left Hinata furrowing her eyebrows. "How's your brother doing, Sasuke?"

"Ask him yourself" was the curt reply before Hinata found herself being shoved out the door.

The cold air hit her like a brick as they finally made it outside and he all but smashed her equipment bag. Thankfully, he had only tossed it roughly into the pile of other bags set out to be packed into the bus. Still, he didn't look all too pleased with being questioned suddenly. Hinata decided not to further pester him about the new bit of information, so she quietly padded away from him.

"Hinata!" she was jolted from behind as two arms squeezed around her waist, "you were so amazing out there!"

"Hanabi…" she squirmed in the girl's hold before finding that her own arms were returning the hug, "thanks."

"It's true," their mother came in and stroked some strands of Hinata's hair away, "you played remarkably." Before Hinata knew it, she could already see her mother's eyes shining with tears.

"Oh, don't cry," Hinata tottered over with Hanabi still locked onto her and slung one arm around her mother.

Feeling left out, Hiashi awkwardly joined in on the group hug as he whispered into her ears, "we're very proud of you."

"Thank you… but wait…" Hinata pulled away briefly and looked to where Neji was standing with Lee. She waved him to join, but he merely quirked an eyebrow and shook his head, adamant that he'd not join the group hug.

"He's always like that," her mother explained with a roll of her eyes as they finally pulled apart.

"Okay, okay!" TenTen flailed her arms, "it's our turn now."

Hinata giggled and stepped aside to be mauled by her friends. "Thanks for coming to support me."

"Of course," Temari replied with a grin as she ruffled the girl's hair, "we wouldn't miss your MJHL debut for the world."

"That's right!" Ino chimed, "because we looooove you that much."

"Yep, so keep fighting," TenTen added as she took her hand off their hug and pumped it in the air. "And just let us know if the Uchiha treats you poorly."

"Or just tell Gaara and Kankoru," Ino concurred.

"Don't worry, he hasn't done anything," Hinata reassured.

"Ahem," Neji interrupted, directing his attention to a certain brunette, "I get a hug too, right?"

"Later," TenTen replied shortly, leaving the Heat's captain looking wounded. "Fine, fine," she finally complied and the girls broke away as TenTen skipped over to Neji and embraced him.

Everyone exchanged farewells and well wishes before heading off. Temari had handed Hinata two large bags before saying her last good bye. Even Hotaru and Matsuri dropped by to congratulate Hinata on her second star of the game. Soon after Hinata was waving as everyone made their way back to the parking lot and she was left as the only girl among a team of teenage boys. She didn't mind so much anymore, but she'd still miss her high school team.

"Come on, let's get on the bus," Neji nodded off in the direction as the rest of the team was finally ready to leave and a few players were packing the equipment in with the luggage.

"Wait!" one of the players packing the bags pointed over to her, and rather rudely at that, "you're a rookie."

"Hm?" Neji cracked a smile and looked to his baby cousin, "he's right. You are a rookie."

"A-and?" she looked wide-eyed between the two.

"Rookies load the bus," he informed with an amused smile before walking off to the entrance of the bus, "have fun. Oh and by the way, since you got second star, watch out for Naruto and Kiba."

"Huh?" she watched him disappear.

"Yea!" the other rookie cheered triumphantly and tossed a bag to her, causing Hinata to stumble back with a whimper.

The indigo-haired girl awkwardly dragged the bag over to one of the compartments of the bus. The task at hand wasn't an easy on. The bags were heavy and stinky. They didn't all fit properly; leaving her to remove some and restack them while the other rookies moved with ease. It was like a cruel game of Tetris and it also didn't help that she knew Sasuke was watching. He was standing by the door with Naruto while Sakura clung to him.

Then there was a clank as something fell out of a goalie equipment bag. Hinata placed the bag back down and bent over to pick up the item. "Maple syrup?" she wondered before sliding the bottle back into the open slot and zipping it up. The label on the bag signalled that he belonged to Chouji so she wasn't too surprised.

It took her a good deal of time until she managed to fill up one compartment and move on to the next. Her arms were not happy. If it were simply tossing the bags in then she would be fine, but it was that they kept falling back out. "Stupid bags," she whispered under her breath.

"If you're having trouble, just get on the bus," Sasuke commanded as he snatched the bag from her hand, "I'll do it." He clearly wasn't jumping for joy about it, and he actually looked very annoyed.

"U-um, o-okay," she bowed a little and started for the bus. He glared at her the entire way while the other rookies stopped to watch. It was like all eyes were on her and it chilled her to the bone. Sakura was standing beside Naruto with her emerald eyes narrowed while Naruto grinned. Thankfully, it all passed and Sasuke tossed the bag in as she reached the first step up.

When Hinata was two steps up, she looked back to see the rookies get back to work as Sasuke loaded her pile and her heart sank with guilt. Before she realized it, she was running the short distance to her section near the back end of the bus. "I c-can do it," she reached out and grabbed onto Sasuke's hand, "it's my responsibility."

"Suit yourself," he handed the bag off to her and shoved his hands into his pockets before walking back to the bus. It wasn't until his back was to the girl that a small upturn of his lips was evident; more of a smirk than a smile.

"She went back," Yamato informed as he repositioned himself in the seat at the front of the bus.

"Did you have any doubts?" Kakashi settled back and let his eyelids fall. The assistant coach shrugged.

Eventually, after some very feminine grunts and whimpers, Hinata pulled the last compartment door shut and made her way on the bus. She took the only empty pair of seats and settled down beside the window. She knew Sasuke was sitting behind her but was too tired to care. He looked to be nearly asleep anyway. Finally the bus rolled out, ten minutes behind schedule, and Hinata's cell phone went off.

"Hello?" she answered, though she had already seen the name in the display.

"Congratulations on getting second star," Gaara's smooth voice eased her nerves, "but you still lost."

"I know. You don't have to remind me."

"Alright, I won't," he answered with a bit of amusement, "so how was your first day in the MJHL?"

"My arms feel like they're going to fall off," she whined into the receiver.

"They made you load the bus?"

"Yes."

"Ah, I see," he let out a very light laugh, "so you guys are headed to Kumo first before Suna, correct?"

"Mmhm, we're suppose to get into Kumo sometime tonight," she hummed quietly while trying to remember the team's schedule, "we get the day off tomorrow and we play on Sunday. Where are you right now?"

"On the bus, just getting out of Ame," there was a rustling sound before his voice came back, "keep me company. Kankoru is already asleep and we've only been on the road for twenty minutes."

Hinata giggled, "alright…"

Behind her, Sasuke rose up to look over the top of her seat. He was trying to sleep and here Hinata was giggling into the phone with some idiot who saw fit to call right after an exhaustive game. He wanted to take the phone from her hand but refrained, choosing to sleep or at least try to sleep.

* * *

**A/N**: BRACE FOR THE LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE! hehe. First, yes they lost. The world isn't all sparkles, flowerbeds, and unicorns. The Heat need a good dose of humility once in a while. Second, you're probably thinking that maple syrup scene was a letdown, but it wasn't the real scene. After some contemplation, the intended scene doesn't fit. Sasuke needs to start taking a serious interest in Hinata. Essentially, for the maple syrup scene to work, they need to be closer. And no, it's nothing kinky, because this fic is rated T. Third... hehehe skinship! The touchy feely between boys. I'm not a yaoi fan but I'll fangirl over skinship (that was an insert to please the author). Oh and there was the Gaahina insert for those Gaahina fans, myself included. The next chapter... I think will just have the team hanging out and if you remember from chapter 1, Kumo is the hometown of the Hyuuga. Mostly because they couldn't get a Hyuuga in the manga.

I actually wrote this all today. I guess I was inspired by the game I went to watch with my cousin. Oh hockey, I'm so glad you're back.

As always, THANK YOU for reading and reviewing. Trust me when I say I read all your reviews and more than just once too! I have fun incorporating little ideas and such, just like the soon to come maple syrup scene spawned from a review! Did you catch the 'eh'? **Sphyma** was surprised no one said it. I fail as a Canadian... leaving it out. I hoped this chapter shed some light. Please drop a review if you get a chance. Remember, I do read them all.


	11. More Than I Expected

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 11: More Than I Expected**

Rolling over in her bed, Hinata wrapped the blanket more tightly around her body, covering her face from the rays of sun piercing the curtains. Then there was a heavy knock on her door and she whipped the blanket off to glare uncharacteristically.

"Rise and shine, princess," the voice called with an edge of seriousness when one would've expected it to be said playfully.

Hinata groaned and grudgingly crawled out of bed before she looked at the clock to see it was only 7:30AM and they had the day off. "What is it Neji?" she whined as the hotel door was pulled opened to reveal the girl in her PJ's, full with beady-eyed animals, "it's early."

"We're in Kumo and you want to sleep all day?" he countered with a quirk of his fine eyebrow.

"I want to sleep, too," complained a raspy voice as Naruto appeared from a door down the hall. He sauntered out to where his captain was standing before leaning against the wall. It was a whole second later that his eyes shut and he slid down to fall in a heap on the floor.

"What do you have planned?" she asked while looking between Naruto and her cousin.

The dark haired boy shrugged, "not a whole lot aside from what your dad asked you to do already."

"I was going to go later," she informed with a grimace. "It's too early," she waved absently to the clock, "besides, we only got in a few hours ago."

"Yea, Neeeeeeeji," Naruto grabbed onto the Hyuuga's pants leg from the floor and pouted his lips.

That caused Neji's eyes to twitch, "you told me to wake you up," he retorted to the blonde.

"Right." The blonde yawned and rolled around to start crawling back to his room. "Then wake me up when Hinata is ready to leave."

"Whatever Naruto, and Hinata meet us downstairs in half an hour for breakfast," he instructed then turned to go back to the room he shared with Lee.

What a pain. Neji was being a _pain_. This was a contrast to the normal occurrences of the Hyuuga household. In most cases, it was Hinata waking Neji up in the mornings and bugging him to practice with her. So when did the tables get turned? She wondered with a yawn as she went to the conjoined bathroom to shower and dress before meeting them for breakfast.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she yawned again while grabbing her bag and throwing the strap over her shoulder before heading to the hotel's restaurant by the lobby. She managed to make it downstairs safely without sleepily stumbling all over the place. Luckily she didn't do anything foolish when she got to the restaurant either, because there happen to be a certain head of raven hair. "Agh…" she groaned. It was bad enough that Neji woke her up at such an ungodly hour, but now she had to deal with him of all people.

And then Sasuke looked up from behind the laptop in front of him. There was a nod to one of the chairs around the table and Hinata grudgingly trudged over. "G-good morning," she greeted coyly as she pulled out the chair and sat down.

He returned her greeting with another short nod. Actually, she couldn't even tell if he had even heard her, for he wore earbuds in his ears, attached to his computer. An awkward silence fell over the pair and she stared out the window, her fingers twiddling underneath the table.

Sasuke, who looked up to steal a glimpse of the indigo-haired girl, fought a subtle smile. The girl before him was really something else, quiet and easily scared, but possessed compassion and a will to achieve the very best. That, at the very least, he liked.

"Hey!" a cheery waitress greeted, "can I get you two some breakfast or will you wait for the others?"

Smiling up to the slightly older woman, Hinata shook her head, "it's f-fine. We c-can wai-"

"I'd like this, please," Sasuke answered simply as he pointed to an item on the menu. Hinata, on the other hand, blinked her eyes in puzzlement. It was rude to start before the rest of their party arrived, wasn't it? However, she didn't say anything, only telling the waitress that she would wait for the others to arrive. Sasuke eventually packed his laptop away. She mused that he had _some_ decency, but not much.

At about the time Sasuke's food arrived, so did Neji and Naruto. Hinata had waited in awkward silence, almost tempted to leave her seat to wait back in the lobby of the hotel. Thankfully she was able to endure the discomfort elicited by the Uchiha across from her for the short time it took the others to arrive. That also meant the service was quick, and not long after, everyone had their meals, though Sasuke was already done and back on his laptop.

Hinata chewed delicately while holding a napkin to her mouth as to not flash a mouthful of chewed food. "Wh-what are we doing today?" she queried almost silently, "I mean, aside from visiting the shop."

Neji took a drink of his red-coloured juice to wash down the food before he answered, "to visit my parents."

"Uncle and auntie?" Hinata's face brightened at the prospect and Neji nodded, a small smile of his own shone on his features.

Even though Hinata had been so young at the passing of her late uncle and aunt, she still remembered the memories and cherished them. It was Hyuuga Hizashi, after all, that gave Hinata her first set of goalie pads ever. It could be misconstrued as him simply wanting to give Neji someone to shoot pucks at, but he also taught her how to skate… and even how to shoot a puck. She was never any good at that part of hockey.

Her beloved uncle had done that all against the wishes of her own father. Hiashi wanted Hinata to be a little girl, as girls should be and not thrust into the world of a male dominated sport. That didn't work because the little Hinata smiled big and bright every time her uncle and cousin came to visit. She would run for her goal pads, stumbling on her way to the door and tripping over the straps that hung down. At the time, she was shorter than the goal pads she now dawned. Those times were so many years ago. They were some of her happiest memories as a child and, unfortunately, they ended earlier than she or Neji would have liked. It would have been better if those times never came to an end. Because of the man Neji called father, Hinata was where she was today and partially because of Neji's additional pestering. Like father, like son.

"Then we're going to meet Lee at the mall," Neji added before going back for the last of his food.

"Mm, okay," she answered happily and nodded. So with renewed enthusiasm, Hinata wolfed down the rest of her food while Sasuke peered over his laptop curiously and Naruto grinned, impressed. A part of her wondered why Naruto and Sasuke were here, but she'd ponder that in detail later and perhaps ask Neji why they were coming. Or maybe they weren't coming and the Heat's top line was just sharing a nice breakfast together.

Minutes later, breakfast was done and the bill was paid and everyone piled out of the hotel together. This forced Hinata to further contemplate the circumstances, but she kept quiet as the three boys talked amongst them-selves. Hinata followed quietly behind them until they reached the bus stop a few blocks from their hotel. The three boys and one girl waited patiently. Only Naruto spoke, topics that ranged from gushing about how beautiful and perfect a certain pink-haired classmate was to how pumped he was to be facing off against Suna in the coming days. Hinata shared his eagerness, but for different reasons so she kept quiet.

The city was coming to life in the brightening morning of mid spring. The bus arrived, pulling to a slow stop as the doors slid open.

"Ladies first," Naruto held out his hand, smiling vibrantly to Hinata.

"Th-thank you," she replied before stepping into the bus. Her cheeks tinted lightly.

Neji raised a sceptical brow as he boarded and paid his fare. Sasuke flicked the blonde's forehead then cracked a small smile when Naruto yelped and facepalmed himself. Grumbling something under his breath, Naruto and the other junior hockey players settled as the bus rolled forward. Hinata, Neji, and Sasuke had claimed three empty seats that were positioned to face the opposite side of the bus. Their backs were parallel the streets. That left the chivalrous blonde to stand while clinging for dear life on to the loops hanging down.

"So, how's it feel to be back home?" Naruto asked while looking down to the two Hyuuga seated in front of him.

The indigo-haired girl gave a nod as her lavender eyes scanned the scenery framed by the windows. "Good," she nodded again, but more assuredly this time.

"Really?" Neji looked to his cousin suspiciously. He knew she didn't like her time in Kumo and how she had been bullied at school for her quiet and shy demeanour. It was for the best when the family landed in Konoha and Hinata met those three girls. He internally thanked them every morning he saw Hinata smile. The only downside was that he rarely got to visit his parents now. Today would make up for it.

"Y-yea," she nodded her reply, "Kumo feels different."

"Different?" her cousin looked down to the girl seated to his right, "maybe you're the one that's different."

With a light laugh, she nodded, "maybe."

"Probably," the other Hyuuga shrugged.

The two shared smiles as Naruto watched with a glimmer of admiration in his eyes, "now how come me and Sasuke can't be all sibling-like like that?" Cerulean eyes met and narrowed on black irises.

"Because we're not brothers," Sasuke retorted icily, his irritation evident.

"Yea we are," the blonde countered, "me and you are practically the same as Hinata and Neji, but you never hug me!" Naruto whined and then chuckled, "and you're never protective of me like an older brother should be, or offer to buy me lunch, or tuck me in at night!" He paused and brought a hand up to point accusingly, "you're a bad brother Sasuke!"

Neji laughed at the twitch of Sasuke's eyes and the bulging vein on his neck, stifling the outburst with a hand over his mouth as he edged away from the fuming Uchiha. Hinata had been smiling, finding Naruto's antics humorous, but she soon stopped. A pair of lavender eyes widened as she too sidled over to give Neji room.

Quickly, a foot kicked painfully into a shin and a rather colourful curse was uttered, causing the occupants of the bus to turn their attention to the teenagers. "Ayah… sorry," Naruto apologized to the many eyes upon him. Sasuke smirked, and was also kicked in the shin.

A grimace crossed over the raven-haired boy's face. Neji leaned into Hinata's ear and pointed, "that's how brothers show they love each other." She nodded slowly as her lips curved into a smile. Even though the two were not blood brothers, she was certain they couldn't be considered anything else but brothers.

The exchange of kicks had ceased after Sasuke chose to stomp his foot down on Naruto's so he'd stop and that was also when the bus stopped to pick up a large crowd of passengers. People quickly entered the bus, rushing to the back to find a seat and bypassing the Heat players. Everyone seemed to be in a rush, which was odd because it was a Saturday. Maybe that was normal for early morning commuters.

At the end of the crowd were an elderly couple who walked in small steps. Eyes scanning up from the wooden cane the woman used, Hinata immediately vacated her seat, garnering an appreciative smile from the woman. Neji followed suit as well, giving the man his seat. It made sense in her mind for them to get up. Sasuke didn't need to because he was seated one seat further in.

Between herself and her cousin, there was only one handgrip above them, so she offered it to him before stepping around Naruto and grabbing the one on the other side. Now the three held various positions around Sasuke.

"Hey, don't you think you should be a gentleman and give Hinata your seat?" Naruto suggested as he swayed to the moving bus.

"N-no, it's o-okay," Hinata insisted. The non-gentleman smirked smugly, slouching into the seat to further emphasize his intentions. There was nothing wrong with that. From the looks of it, their stop would be coming soon.

Removing a hand from the loop, she covered a yawn as the bus was going into the intersection. A screech was heard then was followed by cries of surprise as passengers swayed back from the sudden stop.

Naruto cursed once again as he fell back, his shoulder colliding down into Hinata's. Sasuke watched inquisitively, but didn't react in time as she fell into the person behind her. Luckily, secure arms circled around her waist and held her from falling. "Are you alright?" a level voice asked as those arms eased her up.

"Y-yes!" she squeaked and straightened, "s-s-sorry, I d-didn't mean to!" She bowed her head down to hide the sudden blush invading her face. Having a stranger wrap his arms around her was rather embarrassing.

Then before she knew it, she 'eeped' and was yanked down by a hand. Pale eyes widened as she realized where she was… seated awkwardly in Sasuke's lap as he glared daggers upward. Her blush deepened. It was easy to follow his line of sight and to find its target. Across from them stood a very tall boy who appeared to be around the same age as them. He was dressed in plain clothes, particularly beige colours and other earthy tones. His hair was an orangey blonde and was wild, splaying in all different directions, but mostly upward.

"It's fine," he offered, but didn't smile or show any sort of emotions. His apathetic eyes moved off her face and to the eyes behind her, the ones which shared owners with the lap she was hesitantly rested on. "Sasuke," he then looked back to the girl, "sorry if I touched your girlfriend inappropriately."

"N-no… I'm n-not," Hinata protested and tried to get up but found herself stuck in Sasuke's grip.

"She's not my girlfriend," Sasuke corrected, "but I'd prefer you not touch her, Juugo."

He answered simply with a nod before speaking, "this is my stop, it was nice seeing you, Sasuke and… good luck in the MJHL, Hyuuga Hinata." With that, the orangey blonde headed off the bus, not even a hint of a friendly smile evident on his strong features.

"Juugo?!" Naruto leaned forward and hissed, "_the_ Juugo?"

"Yea," Sasuke answered as he got up before nudging Hinata to sit down. Dumbfounded, she did as he motioned.

"Wh-who's Juugo?" she questioned.

"He used to play in the MJHL," Neji answered as the bus started moving again, "with Sasuke in Oto before Sasuke was traded to Konoha."

"Apparently he was suspended so many times for his temper that he decided to just leave," Naruto filled in, "something about a multiple personality. Like, he could go crazy any second and beat the living crap out of anyone."

"B-but he wished me luck," she mentioned offhandedly. Juugo had caught her, preventing a fall and been polite about it. Hard to believe he could move from docile to rage like someone switching a light switch on.

"Listen to Sasuke," her cousin cut in, "just stay away from the guy if you see him again."

Chewing her bottom lip, Hinata nodded, inwardly wondering if perhaps joining this league in the first place was a really, really bad idea. She turned in the seat Sasuke had given her and looked out the window, "ah, our stop is coming up." Rising up, she yanked the yellow rope which caused a bell to ding. Not a moment later, the bus stopped and they squeezed through the crowds and exited into the rising sun. "Flowers," she pointed to the shop front before heading there first.

The three boys followed after her. Each selected a bouquet of flowers. It flustered Hinata as to why Sasuke and Naruto were still with them. She didn't say anything and paid for her bouquet. Absently, she wondered if Ino's family had expanded their flower shops to Kumo yet. And while she wondered, the boys made their purchases as well before Neji took her by the sleeve and led her out.

Walking to the cemetery was nice. No one talked and a soft breeze fluttered past them. A solemn smile etched across her face as she entered through the gates. They walked down the brick paths and past oriental style tombstones, one after another, each one immortalizing the memories of lives that had once thrived.

Her eyes peered, reading the names until she spotted the Hyuuga name in a somewhat empty patch. Hastening her pace, she reached the tombstones before anyone else did. "Hi…" she whispered, "long time, no see."

Naruto came up beside her, his arm slung over her shoulders as he pulled her closer, "look who we brought this time!"

"Th-this time?" she echoed… but he ignored her.

"I know Neji says I'm not the type of kid you'd like, something about being obnoxious, but I brought your niece!"

A smack over the head and Naruto wailed before whipping around to pout at his team captain. "See, obnoxious."

Muttering something, the blond handed Hinata his flowers before grabbing the two vases, one from each tombstone and heading over to the tap at the end of the path to fill them up. She blinked and looked back to see what Sasuke was doing, but suddenly she was tossed a rag from his bag. Neji caught the next one and the boys soaked them in the water that Naruto brought back. With some urging from Naruto's grin, Hinata put the flowers down and did the same.

Rags were rinsed and the four teenagers set out the give the marble tombstones thorough cleanings. Crusted dirt was scrubbed off and nooks and crannies were picked clean. Pieces of cloth ran paths all over the marble, wiping away any unseemly sights until the tombstones shined with renewed vigour and life. The Hyuuga names became profoundly more prominent than previously. The appearances were no longer indicative of when the marble memorials had been placed.

"This one's done," Sasuke informed as he offered Hyuuga Hizashi's memorial one last wipe. He stepped out from behind it just as Naruto finished off the front.

Hinata's eyes darted to her fellow teammates, between Naruto and Sasuke. Heart thumped and she looked down to blink away tears. It had been an assumption that all those times the Heat played in Kumo, Neji had visited his parents alone. Now she knew it wasn't the case. Uzumaki Naruto was as caring and supportive as he appeared. Uchiha Sasuke was not as cold-hearted as he appeared, but was actually quite kind.

Coming out to the front, where Naruto stood, Sasuke dropped the rag before picking up the vase and putting in place. It locked into the slot with a quiet click. The bouquets were then split among the two tombstones. Two went to Neji's father and the other two went to his mother. Everything looked perfect.

The Hyuuga heiress sniffled and blinked away her tears again, but when she ceased, Sasuke's face came into view. Incense candles were held out for her. Nodding her gratitude, she received them before lighting them with the lighter he offered. Hinata watched as Naruto prayed to her uncle, and then placed the candles in the spot.

A stray tear was wiped on her sleeve before she stepped up to the memorial of her aunt. _It's been awhile Auntie. Sorry I haven't come by. _She paused and cracked her lids open to look to her cousin,_ I'm sure you'll be very proud of Neji. He's grown to be a young man any mother would be proud to call her son. Thank you for raising such a good cousin for me. I miss you._ She finished before placing the half of her candles into the slots for her aunt.

Her good cousin ruffled her indigo hair as they traded spots. _Uncle, you probably already know, but I'm playing with Neji in the MJHL. I have you to thank for this. I'm trying my best because I know you believed in me since the beginning. Thank you for everything. Also, you surely don't need to worry about Neji. He's grown up well and has found good friends. He's in good hands, but please continue to watch over him._ Sniffling once more, her hand shook as she placed the last few candles for her uncle.

With a deep breath and more blinking of her eyes, Hinata stepped away to give way to Sasuke who seemed to be waiting for her. Her teammates, two non-Hyuuga, prayed respectfully. It baffled her even though the gesture touched her. "Neji," she called as he came up beside her, "did you invite them or did they choose to come?"

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his sweater and shrugged, "they insisted when they found out our first time in Kumo."

"B-but why?"

"Uh," he clenched his jaw and pulled in a deep breath, causing a hissing sound as he rolled on the balls of his heels. "I don't think it's my place to explain why they come."

His answer was not much of an answer. With furrowed brows, she looked on as the other two finished up and collected their items.

"Ready to go?" Naruto inquired cheerily. Then with the affirmative nod from their captain, the quartet paid the deceased one last glance before turning to head back to the bus stop.

Neji and Sasuke walked ahead, the pair was discussing something about the upcoming game. Naruto and her rounded off the group. He walked beside her, the ever-present smile adorned for everyone to see. The blonde appeared to be lost in his own world. She tentatively tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Hm? Something up?"

"N-no," she shook her head, "I j-just wanted to say th-thanks for taking care of Neji."

Laughing lightly, the blonde scratched the back of his head before speaking softly, "it's not like he doesn't do the same for me. Besides… there's nothing really like being an orphan and having to visit your late parents alone."

Her brows arched in wonder at his ambiguous words, almost wanting to question what he meant by that. Hinata wouldn't broach the topic for fear of trespassing into murky waters. She knew little about the histories of the other players. Those things were meant to come out by their own accord when players grew close. And even if she wanted to ask about it, she couldn't as her lilac eyes followed Naruto's orange clad body when he bolted.

Naruto yelped and bounded off before the group, "the bus is coming!" Then quickly, everyone sprinted after the energetic blonde. "Wait! Wait!" He had screamed, sidestepping others on the street with fluid yet rough movements befitting an elite athlete. Fortunately for the Heat players, he made it in time to obstruct the door from closing, sticking his hand between the rubber trimmings. "Uh, thanks," he gratefully greeted an annoyed bus driver with a dazzling grin.

"Yea, thanks," Neji added while following up behind Naruto.

Hinata stood behind the taller boys, pushing off her toes to look over their shoulders. The bus was much more crowded than the one they had taken to get to where they were. People were shoving and squishing into cramped nooks, whatever they could get. Instinctively, she grabbed onto a chunk of Sasuke's shirt, the spot around his waist. All the other times he had shoved and dragged her around, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with her grasping him for once. It made a bit of sense… just like the way his hand found her wrist and held her closely behind him as they manoeuvred a few yards into where the other two were.

"Go ahead," he instructed while making room for her to get to Neji. She had nodded her 'thanks' and bypassed him to find the spot beside her cousin, grabbing onto a railing. It was strange this time with the boys hovering around her more so than the last, and it was very likely to have been the result of the earlier incident. Hinata knew Neji would always watch over her in his own way, but never would she have expected either Naruto or Sasuke to have taken on a similar role. Perhaps there was more to them than she first judged.

Even at their stop, she was guided off by the cerulean eyed blonde, his two hands latched onto either of her shoulders as he waddled behind her. "Why are we at the mall?" he inquired with his unique, raspy voice. He had looked to Sasuke for an answer, but he just shrugged his response.

"B-because I need to s-see someone," Hinata answered as she sped up, pulling the still attached Naruto along with her. He whined something about her going too fast. In response, she laughed and sped up until they crossed the parking lot and passed through the glass doors.

Unexpectedly, Hinata and Naruto tilted their head simultaneously in a curious motion. Lee smiled brilliantly and waved a hand to them from where he sat on a bench. Neji walked out from around them to greet the bowl-cut wearing defensemen. Sasuke came up on Hinata's other side, eyes apathetic to his surroundings.

Hinata, however, watched with stunned eyes as Lee swiftly neared her in a few strides and took her hand in his, "everyone believes I am superstitious, but feel my tendencies are intrinsic to the blossoming of my youth as a hockey player. Come join me!" he exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm. He then proceeded to point to the tiled floor, featuring patterns and colours that changed with each step. "Don't step on the brown tiles or we will be cursed for tomorrow's game," he explained with a sparkle in his eyes, "if I step on one, I will do 500 laps around the rink after our morning practice. What about you, sweet Hinata?"

"Huh… uh…" she stammered and looked to Neji for assistance. Unfortunately, he was already halfway into a store. Naruto gave her a thumbs up alongside his grin before following after Neji. Lastly, Sasuke's eyes wandered between hers and Lee's joined hands before he smirked and pivoted around to go in another direction entirely. "Um… uh…" she hummed with an anxious smile, "I w-will juggle?"

"Yosh! Then we shall bring our team good luck by not stepping on the brown tiles!"

* * *

With a sigh, Hinata slouched down into the bench she had claimed. She glanced past the fake plant beside her bench to see Lee well into the pet store and making faces at the adorable puppies. This was it. If she wanted to get out of this business with skipping brown tiles, she'd have to make a run for it now. Calculating Lee's line of sight with her location, she darted. Her legs took her the opposite direction while her mind unconsciously counted the many brown tiles. Hinata walked over them without a care. It annoyed her the most when they had reached the end of one hall and the beginning of another. Just to spite her, the brown tiles seemed to have spawned without any sense of self-control.

Thankfully she was away from Lee's grasp. He was nice, but there were times when walking like that wasn't fun anymore, as a child, but not now. She would apologize later, and even juggle if he wanted. Right now, Hinata had somewhere to go and something to do. So the Hyuuga heiress scurried along, the strap of her bag clutched in one hand.

"Ah," she squeaked to a stop when she passed by a familiar store. Deciding that she still had some time, Hinata stepped inside the one store she frequented every time she came to this mall. A subtle smile crept across her lips as she hurried to the corner shelves.

Music, it was one of those things she could never get enough of. All of her childhood allowances had gone to her extensive CD collection. It had even taken her months to save up for her mp3 player because she wouldn't settle for just any one. It had to be able to hold all her music. She cherished that slim device more than she could express… well, not so much now as she used to. Music kept her company when she was lonely, but she had her girls now.

Still, her pale eyes glowed as fingers sifted through the various names. Hinata pulled out one CD before frowning at the cover. She already had that one, so slipped it back before flipping through the others, which she also had added to her collection already.

"Need help?"

"Mm," she nodded and pulled out one of the albums, holding it up for the voice, "I'm looking for their-… S-Sasuke?"

He smirked and quickly snatched the item from her hand, eyeing it with great interest, "their what?"

"Uh, th-their first album," she informed with slightly wide eyes. When did he get here?

"That's their first album," he answered easily while pulling out another from the slot. Further up, the shelf was labelled with small a rectangular sign that read 'Punk' and Sasuke decided there was more to Hinata than he had thought. He would have never pegged her for the type to listen to music outside the mainstream tides that flowed in and out so rapidly, though this band didn't fit the mould of punk so cleanly. There was an eclectic styling to their music that was much different from mainstream stuff. Then again, she didn't know that this was the band's first album. So, maybe he couldn't give her too much credit.

"N-no, their first _first_ album," Hinata corrected while taking the CD back from him. "Their first indie release, not the major label."

"Oh, that one." Sasuke stepped out in front of her and searched for the CD in question. When he didn't find it, he clucked his tongue and shrugged. "They don't have it."

"Alright," she spoke with a sigh before nodding to him as she brushed past on her way out of the store. Hinata assumed he would stay, but she found herself chewing her cheek when she felt his presence hovering over her.

"Where are you going?"

"K-Koori Apparel," she replied.

Sasuke raised a brow before speaking from his spot beside her, "the hockey equipment shop? Why? We already have our stuff provided. Besides, Koori Apparel sponsors the Kumo Thunder."

Hinata nodded slowly, "only because Neji used to play for Kumo and the Heat already has an equipment sponsor."

"How do you know?" he shot back, but noticed she hadn't stuttered.

"Because Koori Apparel is owned by my family." She slowed to a stop as they reach said store, clear glass displaying the state of the art items.

"What?" he asked through furrowed brows.

Hinata spared him a nod before turning around to lead them into the store. Sasuke followed but stopped just inside when she suddenly disappeared behind the counter and into a back door. A middle aged woman smiled at him as she appeared from behind a rack of jerseys… Kumo jerseys. She had blonde hair, and as blonde as Naruto's. It was short and in a clean bob.

"Can I help you young man? You look like a big, strong hockey player," she complimented with a wide smile. "We carry the very best equipment."

"No." He shook his and looked to the door Hinata had disappeared to.

"Yori," Hinata called as she emerged with a folder in her hands, "where are the shipment records?"

"Hinata!" the woman exclaimed happily before walking over and pulling Hinata into a hug, "when did you get here?"

"Just now," Hinata answered, her eyes blinking. "I just waved earlier, when you were over there." Turning around, she looked to the person she had waved to. There was a peek of blonde hair from behind another rack of hockey shorts and next to a wall of hockey sticks.

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed as he shot a puck into the net they had set up to test the sticks. "And this one too!"

"Oh, that wasn't you… it was h-him."

"Saucy! Hinata!" Naruto bellowed when he looked up to see them across the store. "You gotta try this stuff!"

The Hyuuga heiress smiled before clutching the folder to her chest and walking to where he was, "d-do you want it?"

"You're kidding," Naruto retorted with a chuckle, "like I could afford this, right Sasuke?"

Coming to lean against a wall, Sasuke gave a curt nod. "Naruto and I aren't exactly swimming in wealth."

"N-no," Hinata hurriedly corrected, "it's okay for you to take it."

Cerulean eyes twitched as Naruto leaned over to whisper to her, "that's stealing and the store lady is right behind you."

"Oh, it's fine if Hinata is fine with it!" Yori put a hand on Hinata's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Hinata will inherit the Koori Apparel chain one day anyway, and she used to work here before she and Neji moved."

When Hinata smiled, Naruto's jaw dropped. "You're kidding! So I can take this?"

"Mmhm," the indigo-haired girl nodded, "but if y-you're going to pick a stick…" she started before getting up to scurry over to a stack in a far corner, "try this one. This just came out recently. Kumo doesn't have it yet."

"No way!" Naruto excitedly received it as though it were the holy grail of hockey equipment. He immediately dumped the bucket of pucks onto the cement floor and slapped one after the other.

"Y-you t-too, Sasuke," Hinata insisted. He nodded curtly but gave no indication as to whether he would pick an item for himself or not.

Deciding to leave the boys alone, Hinata turned and motioned for Yori to retrieve the appropriate paperwork for her to look over. It was about twenty minute later when she came out to Lee testing the hockey stick, Naruto talking to himself, and Neji and Sasuke watching patiently. She slipped the armful of folders into her bag before coming up to her teammates.

"Done?" Neji asked from where he was seated on a low stool.

"Yea," she answered with an accomplished smile as the documents sat snugly in her bag, awaiting the journey back to her father's care. "H-have you decided what you would like to get?" Her pale eyes wandered to Naruto and Sasuke.

Upon hearing her soft voice, Naruto careened his brilliant eyes to hers and pouted. "I can't make up my mind!"

But just as she was going to give him some advice, Sasuke yanked randomly at one of the sticks. "I'll take this one," he informed while holding it out to her. A sly smile was evident on his countenance as she received the item timidly.

Both hockey sticks were rung up along a new pair of gloves Lee had chosen, citing his were developing a strong odour. To Naruto's content, he was passed both sticks without having to pull out his wallet. Then with a few farewells, the teenagers left the store, Neji, Naruto and Lee leading off as the Hyuuga heiress and the Uchiha walked behind.

Sasuke walked casually with a slight slouch of his shoulders and his hands firmly shoved in his pockets. Hinata stole glances out of the corners of her eyes, blushing furiously when he caught her. "What?" he asked, though he didn't seem at all interested in her answer.

"N-nothing…" she defended, shaking her head fervently. "I j-just think y-you and Naruto really are… well, b-brothers."

"Hn." He smirked and shrugged, obsidian eyes watching Naruto's back from behind.

Returning his smirk with a shy smile, the timid girl jumped back a step when Lee screamed. He stomped up to her, eyes brimming with tears as he pointed to the marble floors. She anxiously looked down to see her feet firmly planted on a brown tile. "Hinata! You stepped on a brown tile!" he wailed, "now not only will this bring us bad luck, but you have to juggle!"

"J-juggle?"

"Juggle?" the three other boys remarked quizzically, amused glimmers in their eyes. Hinata's lips quivered.

* * *

Stifling a yawn, Hinata leaned back on the headboard. She had a pillow cushioning her back as papers were splayed over the cream coloured comforter of the hotel bed. Her finger absently drummed over the open pages of a book. "Stupid literature paper," he cursed under her breath. It was a fact that she needed to get this paper of hers done by tonight if she expected to get it done at all. Tomorrow would be the game against Kumo, then the night after they would play Suna.

She ran a hand through her indigo hair, brushing it out of her eyes as she eyed her notebook heatedly. "Stupid, stupid, stup-" she muttered breathily, seeing as she was a quiet girl anyway. "I'm busy, Neji!" she called out to the knock that had interrupted her irate utterances.

"It's not Neji" was the response.

"N-not Neji…?" she wonder aloud while crawling off the bed and padding over to her door. One look through the eyehole, an agitated sigh, and Hinata cracked the door open a smidgen. "S-Sasuke… is s-something wr-wrong?"

"No," he replied apathetically and pushed the door open easily before letting himself in. She had protested with a high squeak, but it went ignored.

"Th-then what are y-you doing?" she asked with timid steps that brought her close to where he had claimed a seat on the edge of her bed.

The Uchiha had his laptop propped on his lap as it started up with various beeps and clicks. "I assume you have an mp3 player," he stated, hand held out to receive the item.

Hinata wanted to grab that hand and drag him out of _her_ room. He had no right to barge in as far as she was concerned, but, contrary to what she wanted to do, she scurried to her bag and pulled the small device out. It was handed to him before she cautiously found a spot near him, but she made sure to not be too near.

Lilac eyes locked on his computer screen as he plugged the music player in and opened the contents up. Then she gasped, pointing her finger out like a child who had just spotted the grandest lollipop of all time. "You have their first indie album."

There was a curt nod to her exclamation. The items were transferred between folders and her mp3 player blinked happily, while Hinata grinned. Unconsciously, she edged over to get a better look at what else he had. Sasuke, however, passed the computer over to her before sliding backward on her bed. She had been too enthralled in his extensive music library to notice him grab her notebook.

"Do you need to type up your paper?" he asked while not looking up from his newfound reading.

"H-huh?" she mumbled, fingers dragging on the touchpad mouse as she all but heard what he had said. Sasuke smiled, but mostly to himself, seeing as she was busy. He continued to read and made it to the second last page until there was a rustle. Looking over the top of the notebook, he saw Hinata lunge and reach out for the book.

"I'm not done yet," he stated tauntingly while slipping back on the bed enough for her to miss.

"Pl-please give that back," she pleaded, crawling quickly across the generous size bed until she was seated on her knees, facing him from his right side.

Sasuke gave a shake of his head as he kept reading, but then suddenly swivelled around until his back was to her. She reached around him, trying to get the book but only to fail as he held it far enough away with his long arms. "Sexual harassment," he muttered hastily as she was reaching in all directions, arms wrapping around him from behind.

"Wh-what?!" Hinata fell back instantly and her cheeks flared a scarlet red. "I d-didn't… I didn't!"

He shrugged and flipped over the last page of her literature paper. "You left out a few allusions."

She blinked then frowned. "What allusions?" she wondered, shifting until she was beside him.

Sighing, Sasuke turned back and grabbed the hardcover book from the other side of the bed. He flipped through the worn, yellow pages, and dog-eared the ones of interest. All the while, Hinata's mouth formed into an 'O' shape as she jotted down notes.

"So, do you need to type it up?" he asked once again as he wandered over to his computer.

"Y-yea," she offered with a nod, "I w-will when we get home."

"The paper is due the day after we get back. I guarantee you'll be too tired to sit in front of a computer."

"Oh," she said. Her eyes wandered over to his computer. Hinata then looked up to him and smiled awkwardly.

Sasuke wanted to laugh out loud, but contained his mirth easily before handing her the laptop. He received her 'thanks' before motioning for her to make room so he could take one side of the bed. The Hyuuga had given him a questioning look before complying and finally sliding over. Hinata went about typing up her paper, and Sasuke turned the television on. Occasionally he would point out a typing error here and there. Hinata didn't see why he needed to; there were already indicators in the word program she was using.

When she made it halfway through her paper, there was a knock on the door. Hinata looked for Sasuke to answer it, but he shrugged once more. "Leave it. Naruto will go away eventually."

"How do you know it's-" She was interrupted by another knock before the obnoxious blonde called out.

"Sasuke! I know you're in there."

Hinata was shocked to say the least. Even she had gotten it wrong earlier when she thought it was Neji knocking on her door. "Th-then he knows," she pointed out quietly, "you should a-answer the door."

"Sasuke!" Naruto bellowed once more.

The boy in question narrowed his eyes before getting off the bed and sauntering over to the door. It was pulled open and Naruto peered inside. He pointed between the two dark-haired Heat players, "does this mean you're off the market and Sakura's all mine?" Grinning, he wriggled his blonde brows and Hinata's eyes widened while a blush invaded her face.

There was a slam. The door was shut. Naruto's whines could be heard.

"Stupid jerk," Naruto verbally blasted across the wood, "I only came to tell you lovebirds that we're going to that fancy restaurant for team dinner tonight. So 'dress nice,' Kakashi says."

"What?" Sasuke cut out, voice laced with irritation as the door was promptly flung open once more.

"B-but I'm typing out my paper," Hinata interrupted, looking up from the screen.

"Tell Kakashi, not me," the blonde answered with a shrug, "I'm just delivering the message. Meet in half an hour." With that, he turned and wandered back to his room.

"Dress nice…" Hinata murmured, hand running through her hair as she glanced between her half typed paper and the door.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Sasuke was by her side in two strides. The computer was taken from her hands along with the notebook that held her paper. "You're a slow typer," he commented, "get ready. I'll type it up in my room."

Then the computer, her notebook, and Sasuke were out of the room before she could even express her gratitude. Still, it wasn't something she would worry over, so she quickly went through her luggage, pulling out a skirt and a blouse.

* * *

Sitting on his own bed, dressed in charcoal dress pants with a royal blue dress shirt, Sasuke vigorously typed. He was dressed and ready to leave whenever Naruto figured out his tie.

"What gives?" Naruto asked, grin present as he adjusted his tie for the umpteenth time, "you and Hinata are getting close. I don't recall you getting all lovey dovey with Neji when he joined… Actually, if I recall properly, you two dropped the gloves in that game against Ame… and fought _each other._"

"Hinata is not Neji," Sasuke retorted.

"Yea, and has she proven herself to you?"

Sasuke brought his gaze up from the screen and looked to his friend with less fire than usual before looking away ambiguously.

"So, what's got you typing up her lit. paper?" Naruto inquired, grinning so wide his eyes were squinted shut. "Could it be? Uchiha Sasuke is not gay after all?"

The next thing cerulean eyes saw was the pillow propelling towards him unsympathetically. He caught it and chuckled as Sasuke got up and headed to the door. But not wanting to get left behind, Naruto gave up on his tie and ran after Sasuke.

Nearly all the players were gathered in the lobby, most waiting for the last few stragglers to come down the stairs. Neji and Lee were leaning against the check-in counter, while Shikamaru and Chouji sat at the bottom steps of the stairs. Naruto went off to whisper something to Kiba and Sasuke found an empty spot to stand beside Shino.

"Go get her," Shikamaru nudged Chouji. But before the second string goalie could protest, Hinata hurriedly made her way down the stairs.

"S-sorry, I'm late," she apologized; completely missing the appreciative gazes sent her way from the room of teenage boys. There was a wolf whistle from one direction, a smacking sound, a chuckle, another smacking sound, and Naruto was holding his head while Kiba glared deathly between Shino and Sasuke.

"You're not late," Neji informed, "Kakashi's not here yet."

"Oh."

"So," her cousin started, pulling a bowl of fruit off the counter behind him, "three or five?"

"Y-you're going to make me juggle for r-real?" she stammered, shrinking back slightly and looking down to her fellow goaltenders for assistance.

"Five it is," Neji confirmed with a smirk as he grabbed five different fruits and tossed them individually to her. And just as a goalie should, Hinata caught each one. Nervous eyes scanned the room before settling on Shikamaru and Chouji. _Help…_

"Make all three goalies juggle!" Kiba screamed, pointing between the two boys.

Neji leaned forward, pale, Hyuuga eyes instructing the two to stand up as well, "triumphant goalie gets bragging rights."

The two seemed content passing bragging rights onto Hinata. After all, she was the starter already, but before they could do anything about it, Lee pulled them both up and handed each of them three fruits. "To be fair, Hinata will start with three as well," the green-suit clad player added before removing two of her fruits, an apple and an orange.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered while get into stance. The three of them lined up at the bottom of the steps, poised to start.

They were given the go ahead by Lee, who looked overjoyed at the display of hand-eye coordination, an asset to any goaltender, or athlete in general. At around the two-minute mark, Hinata was tossed an additional apple, which she added to the round easily. Chouji did the same. Shikamaru, on the other hand, sidestepped the toss and continued going with only three.

"Disqualified!" Naruto pointed an accusatory finger, though he was all smiles.

"Fine by me," the lazy Heat goalie caught all three and placed them back in the bowl before sitting down. By the time the fifth fruit was added, he had leaned back against the higher up steps, hands folded behind his head.

Hinata kept tossing each fruit up, her eyes not daring to look away. Juggling was something her father had taught her to help with her goaltending skills, and Neji knew Hinata could easily juggle more than five items at once. This would not be something she would fail.

There were whispers, cheers, and claps around the room as players were given a glimpse of their goaltenders' dexterity.

With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke's eyes watched with much fascination as the Hyuuga effortlessly juggled the items, while Chouji would waiver once in awhile. Fortunately, everyone was too engrossed in the juggling match to notice his rather serene look. Sasuke found himself staring at a girl for the first time since… well, he couldn't remember.

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter was a real head-scratcher for me. Sasuke's a head-scratcher. It's probably too long, but I cut out a bit already. I described what Hina was wearing, but it didn't flow right. She looks preeetty, okay? haha. Next chapter will be the Kumo game... Sasuke may _"fall"_ that game. _**WinterKaguya**_ mentioned Killerbee. Yes, I will be trying my hand at his rhyme/rap thing, emphasis on _trying_. Lastly, no, I do not know where Juugo came from... or where's he's going with the story, but I am a Juuhina fan. (I've already started plotting my next story... Juuhina style!)

Thanks for all your lovely reviews! They brighten my days. Hope you liked the many interactions in this chapter and please do leave a review.

For readers of **Lost Cause**, I won't be updating until mid-December. But when the updates come, they'll be coming like wildfire. My goal is to finish it before the start of the next semester, which is the first week of January. **BtM**, however, won't be finished anytime soon, but an update in Jauary, too? maybe... It's not even halfway yet. Well, almost, but not yet.


	12. Have Heart

**Behind the Mask**

**CHAPTER 12****: Have Heart**

Hinata huffed a sigh after anxiously eyeing the room she'd been assigned. It was nothing special compared to her room back at Leaf Arena. The room was nothing more than a stingy, old storage room with the items of storage removed and placed somewhere else. There was only one light bulb and it barely illuminated, leaving her in dark and dreary surroundings. She didn't even dare venture off of the small bench placed in the middle for her. The placing of it in the middle of the room was odd, but she decided it was a better spot when her lilac eyes saw the thick dirt crusted along the walls and corners from the many decades the building had been standing.

For once, she really envied the other boys, because never had she thought being the sole girl on the team could bring her this misfortune. Nonetheless, she steeled herself with a repulse cringe of her delicate features and turned her attention down to her equipment. She went about her usual routine and carefully adorned every article.

* * *

_That morning, the morning of their game against Kumo, Hinata had gone in search of her equipment bag among the Heat's pile of luggage. She hadn't found it and was sent into a frenzy of sorts. It had consisted of much stuttering and feverishly climbing the mountain of equipment with no one around to help in her search. However, after ten minutes of stumbling over the mound, Shikamaru had shown up and given her a bemused expression. He then found his bag easily and pulled it from the offending heap. _

_The Hyuuga had pouted absently and dropped down to sit at the center of the mass of equipment. She looked at him through tired, half-lidded eyes. Yesterday she didn't get to sleep in because Neji had woken her up early, and today she had been persuaded into meeting the Nara goalie for a 'before practice-practice' or that was how he reasoned the early hour. Even worse than not being able to sleep in, Hinata had been hunting for her precious equipment and come up empty handed. _

_The boy, with his hair pulled up into a spiky and untamed tail of sorts, only offered her a sheepish smile. "Not here?" he asked. She shook her head in defeat. "Have you checked your room?"_

"_My room," she mused quietly to herself before she bolted upright and sprang from the load, stumbling in the cracks between bags on her way. It wasn't graceful, but she managed to get down without mishap. Shikamaru had only quirked a brow and shrugged. He dragged his bag behind while heading off towards the visiting team's dressing room. Hinata had disappeared around the corner and he assumed he'd just meet her on the ice after he got his skates on, but she suddenly scampered back clumsily, even catching her toe on the corner before her face contorted to express the pain. _

_She straightened herself out and offered the boy opposite her a nervous laugh. He wondered how someone who had juggled six items the night earlier and won bragging rights was suddenly clumsy. _

"_Uh, w-where is my… r-room?" she asked. Her slender fingers had found each other in an anxious expression of her inner states. _

_Shikamaru looked around. Not that he was trying all that hard, but he didn't find any blatant directions which would lead to the exact location of her temporary dressing room. Luckily for them, Naruto and Kiba had sauntered out from around a corner. The blonde had snickered something to his friend and the Inuzuka had chuckled loud. _

"_Oi!" Shikamaru roused their attention. "Do you two know where Hinata's dressing room is?"

* * *

_

And that was how Hinata had found her room; with the help of the two teenage boys. Strangely enough, her equipment had even been dropped off and a few items removed from her bag. Suspicions rarely found their way to Hinata's thought processes, but they did this time. It was even more suspicious when all the items she carried were in place and intact. Logic, judgement, and the knock on the door got the better of her and she brushed her thoughts aside.

"Just put on your skates," Shikamaru instructed. "You don't need to put everything on."

"O-okay," she conceded, eyes wandering the concrete floor until she found her black skates. Her socks were pulled up before she dipped one foot into the skate. They were laced up quickly and with expert, dexterous fingers. Hearing Shikamaru sigh on the other side of the door, she grabbed the other with haste and slotted her right foot inside. Unlike her other foot, this one was impeded by a soft, squishy feeling she'd never experienced inside a skate before. "Ah," she exclaimed as pale eyes wandered down to see white foam spill past her ankles and over the edge.

There was a shuffle on the other side of the door before Shikamaru turned the handle of eased it open. "Something wrong?" he asked, though his expression conveyed little concern over her current predicament. Lazy eyes darted down to where she was transfixed. His lips curled into a lethargic smile. "Shaving cream," he clarified. "That's why you're stuff had already been moved and unpacked."

Hinata's head inclined upward before tilting to one side, puzzled. "Shaving cream m-moved my stuff?" she queried incredulously, wondering if this supposed genius had lost his bearings.

"No," he countered, still grinning subtly. "Kiba and Naruto moved your stuff. They also put the shaving cream into your skate."

Her reply came in a slow, steady nod. "But wh-why?"

Shikamaru sighed as he pushed off the wall, walking over until he was close enough to kneel in front of her. His shoulders were slouched and his hands left the confines of his pockets before pulling the skate off. "Because _you_ were our team's highest three star's last game. Remember, second star?"

The skate was held up for her and she took it grudgingly with a discontented frown. "They put sh-shaving cream into s-skates when someone gets a s-star?" It seemed silly and she felt herself shrink back into her recluse shell. Hinata knew the two boys were energetic, and had plenty of it to spare, but to taunt her like this felt so… wrong.

The Nara appeared to catch on to her shift in mood. "You got off easy," he mentioned, resisting a chuckle. "Have you ever seen that picture of Sasuke from a few years back? It was before Neji joined the team."

Hinata searched her mental database and followed it with a shake of her head.

"Well…" His lips curled into a real grin and even the corners of his eyes crinkled. "They took a pair of clippers and temporary hair dye, in Heat's colours, and then while Sasuke was sleeping…" he paused, a bit of mirth boiling over. "You can fill in the rest… It was really troublesome. But we did stop calling him 'duck butt' for awhile."

In her mind, a pair of clippers, a few bottles of hair dye in the team's colours, and a very unhappy Uchiha materialized. Oh, and then the duck butt reference. Hinata laughed outright, and then she covered her mouth and uttered a quiet apology. She was only glad Sasuke wasn't around for fear that he'd scowl at her with those scary eyes. They were very strange eyes, which could be nice and frightening all within the same second. Where Naruto and Kiba found the nerve to prank Uchiha Sasuke was something she couldn't come close to understanding, but it astounded her nonetheless.

Shikamaru sat back on his bum with his skates on. He looked to be amused by her reaction to the anecdote. Hinata, however, tried to hide her smile as she turned back to her skate. The inner lining of her skate, the boot that was normally encased in the resistant material outside, was pulled out. She spread the tongue of it forward before flipping the entire thing over to dump the contents out, scraping the remaining gunk out with her finger. "So…" She hummed softly, eyes locked on the boot like that was her only concern. "Wh-where is this picture?"

Her fellow goalie let go another laugh while he settled down and watched her clean out her boot. "All the hard copies were burned… in a big steel barrel." Shikamaru leaned back a tad and scratched the side of his head, then spoke, "if you're lucky, Naruto might have a copy saved somewhere."

"Mhm." She nodded and filed the new information away for later inquiry. Inwardly, she wondered if Neji knew about the rather provocative sounding picture. But then another question occurred to her. "Wh-what if Naruto or Kiba get one of the three stars?"

"Then they try to out-prank the other. It's not pretty." And he meant that for the entire team, not just the two. The old bucket on the door prank had been pulled off flawlessly earlier in the year when Kiba earned second star. The dog-lover had meant to get Naruto before the blonde could get him. Unfortunately, an innocent bystander had walked into the room before Naruto.

Shikamaru could still remember the chill that ran through his body when the ice water hit him like a slab of ice from the rink. "Yea, anyway…" His face returned to its normal expression of laziness and disinterest, though there was still a hint of a smile. "Chouji and I will meet you on the ice. There are a few things to go before tonight's game."

He left the room and Hinata dug through her bag until she found a small towel. The cloth was used to wipe away the last of the white foam. When she was satisfied, she inserted the boot back into her skate and proceeded to test it with her foot. It didn't feel damp or uncomfortable, which was to her pleasure. The fuzz of the material would likely get a little crusty later when it tried, but nothing to be concerned about.

A few minutes later, she stepped out of her storage room and headed down the hall until she found the archway. Chouji and Shikamaru were at the end, talking and pointing to various spots on the ice. None of the three Heat goalies wore more than their normal street clothes and a pair of skates. Their goalie skates, of course, were different from regular skates. They sat lower on the ankles and didn't offer the same protection over the back tendons, just above their heels as other skates did. The blades were flatter, wider, and shorter, allowing them to station themselves closer to the ice.

"Let's hit the ice," Chouji cheered, hopping over the boards with a whoop.

"Tch." Shikamaru smirked and headed out through the swinging door. It wasn't often that Chouji got excited about hockey, but this was clearly one of those moments. Just as he touched down on the ice, the Nara turned back to snag a hockey stick off the bench before he glided out and Hinata followed quietly.

It was a serene sort of feeling that hit her. The arena was slightly smaller than Leaf, but it was large still. But without the crowds, it held an aged aura to it, tranquil and elegant. Then again, it was the oldest arena in the league and it resided in her hometown. The feeling was more likely to be nostalgia, she figured. After all, she had attended a handful of Neji's games from their time here. Scanning the seats, Hinata could still pinpoint the seat she always sat in. It was tucked up high, but just before the balcony sections.

While the two boys tested the ice, she smiled to herself. That seat, the one behind hers. _That_ was where she had met her first Sabaku. Gaara had been so adamant on resting his broken leg, in a white cast, upon the top of her seat. She'd politely asked him to remove it and after an awkward exchange of words, he agreed. At the time she had no idea who he was, but guessed he was an injured player from the opposing team. The crutches and the suit easily gave it away.

"Hinata," Shikamaru interrupted her thoughts and motioned her over.

"S-sorry." She skated over, wiping the reminiscent smile off her face.

"Right, okay," he murmured, looking around to orient himself again as she joined them. "This arena is old, and there are some things you should know about before tonight's game," he explained. Hinata and Chouji both nodded their acknowledgement. "Most of the boards have been replaced except for the ones behind the nets." Shikamaru skated over and knocked the hockey stick in emphasis. "Even if the pucks are frozen, they still have a tendency to spring back when they hit the back board. Be careful." Kumo knows how to use these boards to their advantage."

The third string goalie reached into his pocket and pulled out two frozen pucks. One was dropped down before he batted it off the ice, pelting it into the boards. Hinata had almost thought he was going the fan on the puck all together and miss because of how inattentive his gaze appeared to be, but she squeaked and stepped back when the rubber disk ricocheted off and flew back past where they stood.

"The boards have been inspected and deemed to be within regulation, but the backlash from the rest of the league has forced Kumo to agree on renovations for next season," he stated. "But since we're still playing with old boards until they change them, I thought you should know." Sighing, he frowned and looked around, "Yea, be careful because Kumo knows how dump the puck and regain possession really fast."

Chouji clucked his tongue and nodded. "Got it." Hinata then feverishly added her own nod to express her understanding. She knew Shikamaru was doing this for her benefit alone. Chouji had played in the arena before, so she took care to listen intently.

"And lastly," he said before leading them to the side boards. "Last week, Killerbee sent one of Kiri's players into the board." Kneeling down to the ice, he ran a hand over the spot. "It's barely there and took me awhile to figure out, but there's a little indentation."

Both the other goalies followed his movements and knelt down as well. Chouji ran his hand over the dip once Shikamaru moved aside. While they fussed over the dent, Hinata calculated its position in relationship to her. It was on the end she would defend for two of the three periods. It would be to her right when she was in goal and was approximately halfway into her defensive zone from the blueline.

She turned back to look down at her teammates. "You're saying that if… If Kumo dumps the puck f-from their end, it could hit the dent and change direction…" she trailed off, making her way between the boys to get a better look at what could have surprised her in the game had Shikamaru not drawn her attention to it.

The lazy genius nodded, smirking in achievement that she figured out the implications of a miniscule dimple in the boards. "Instead of going smoothly to the back of the net, it may redirect… and judging from the angle of the dent, it's going straight to your net." He leaned back beside the notch and visually measured the angle to confirm his musings. "Yep, if it bounces off here," he paused to point, "it's going square into your net."

* * *

Sometime after going over the kinks in the rink, Hinata had been ushered off to suit up in her full equipment for the team's practice. Everything had gone as it usually went. There were drills, exercises, game plans, and the like. The top line had shown up to shined the entire way through, just like Hinata knew they would shine for that night's game. Neji had complimented her and told her it was time to show Kumo what they were missing out on when they let two Hyuuga slipped through their grasps. Naruto had apologized about the shaving cream in the skate bit, but then amended it a second later, citing that that was how the Heat rewarded a well played game. Then Kiba butt in and told her it was all Naruto's idea and if she felt compelled to retaliate then all credit went to Naruto, including the canister of shaving cream they'd used. Then there was a shove, and then another, then a curse and the girl laughed lightly and skated off.

Through the cage of her mask, her lavender eyes had searched for the last member of Konoha's top line, Uchiha Sasuke. She never found him, or knew why she had looked to begin with. He had been there for the practice. The dark-haired boy really had a way of making himself scarce when he wanted, even against her abnormally observant eyes.

Hinata had shrugged it off and retreated back to her hotel room for the rest of the afternoon. Some rest and relaxation was in order before the game. Also, some much needed encouragement was in order, too. So while she sat on her bed, the phone pressed against her ear rang before there was a click, shuffling sounds, and a "hello?"

"Hi," Hinata answered, her lips turning into a warm smile.

"Hinata?" Ino voiced before two other voices in the background piped up. The two other girls scrambled around Ino's bedroom, coming to sit beside the platinum blonde and leaning in as if they could join the conversation so easily.

"Yea."

"HINATAAAA!!" the girls cheered enthusiastically. The voices muddled and merged incomprehensibly.

"Wait!" Temari howled, forehead creased irritably. "We can't all talk to her at once."

"Janken," TenTen said, holding out her fist for the game of 'rock, paper, scissors'. Ino nodded and put the phone down on the bed.

On the phone, Hinata smiled and waited for her friends to battle for the right to talk to her. She waited patiently as the three proceeded. They chanted and then she heard Temari groan, assuming her former team captain had lost the first round. Seconds later, there was a familiar chant before the phone was picked up off the bed and she heard a voice greet her cheerily.

"I won!" Ino declared, "the power of best friends, eh?" She laughed.

"Mmhm," Hinata replied, expressing a bit of her own laughter as well. "I miss you all."

"Yea… Well, we miss you, too," Ino answered. "Say, do you like it playing with the stinky boys? 'Cause if you don't, you can always come ba-"

"Be quiet, Oinkers!" TenTen interrupted and Temari laughed in the background.

"Oh, c'mon!" The platinum blonde chastised, glowering at her brunette friend. "How much fun could Hina have with those stinky boys?"

The phone was then ripped away and the next voice Hinata heard was TenTen's. "They are treating you well, right?" she queried, genuine curiosity in her voice. "I mean, if they're not treating you right, I'll give Neji an earful-" TenTen was cut off, much like she had done earlier.

"I'll castrate-" Ino spoke violently before she was wacked over her head by chuckling Temari.

"Yamanaka, I realize your dislike for the male species on account of whoever your last boyfriend was, but I think Hinata can handle herself," the oldest of the three jeered, earning a malicious glance from the other blonde.

"Yea," Hinata spoke into the receiver quietly, nodding to no one. "I can handle myself and everything is fine."

"Really?" TenTen asked, moving to turn on the speaker function so everyone could hear. "So the guys are treating you well?"

"Yes, even Sasuke," she replied. Hinata chose to leave out the shaving cream prank just in case Ino or TenTen decided retribution was in order. Temari, she figured, would likely just laugh and tell Hinata to join the fun. "He and everyone else have been very nice, actually." The Hyuuga smiled, though they couldn't see.

"Really?" Temari repeated, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "So, I don't have to give my brothers a call with instructions to terminate? Not even Uchiha?"

Hinata thought it over briefly before answering, "Nope. H-he actually helped me with my literature paper last night."

"No way," Ino pushed her way to the phone, sky blue eyes zeroed in the device inquisitively, like she would be able to discern the truth in her friend's voice simply by nearing the speaker. The truth? She probably could.

The older girls shot each other knowing glances, teeth gleaming in wide smiles. The brunette latched onto Ino's long pony tail and pulled her back from the phone, forcing a pained yelp and curse from her. Then they both leaned into the phone.

"You don't, uh…" TenTen started, but couldn't finish when she found herself laughing a little.

"Don't what?" Hinata asked innocently.

"Like Uchiha Sasuke, do ya?" Temari finished.

At that, Ino bolted upright and tried to push her way through. She was easily held off by the two Konoha High girls dubbed the 'Tank sisters' for their strength and rough play. They held her mouth and motioned her to be quiet. They all knew that if there was any hope of hearing a confession of the shy girl, they needed silence. Ino's eyes darted bitterly between her two friends while her hands formed into two very offending gestures.

"Um… no?" Hinata answered with uncertainty, but her cheeks were burning as hot as the sun itself. She swallowed hard and tried to calm herself. "I… I d-don't…" she added passively, a little unsure of what it was to like someone to begin with. "No… I w-wouldn't…"

Ino fell back on the floor and raised her arms in the air victoriously. "She's too good for that jerk," she whispered harshly, "Stop putting thoughts in her head." Internally, the blonde made a note to email Gaara. Not that there appeared to be anything substantial between him and Hinata though, he was just the only guy she approved for their little Hina. Everyone was just too blind to see how perfect they were for each other, she was certain.

"Are you sure?" Temari continued to interrogate the Hyuuga as TenTen shuffled over to Ino.

The brunette leaned down beside her friend's ear, whispering, "Just admit that no one else can tame _the_ Uchiha Sasuke. I bet you she's already got him wrapped around her little finger without realizing it."

"Ew," Ino said curtly, poking TenTen in the forehead roughly. "Dirty thoughts. Dirty, dirty, dirty thoughts."

TenTen laughed and leaned away to avoid further abuse. "You know how Hinata is…" She snickered and Ino glared icily.

* * *

For now the arena was silent and undisturbed. Hinata knew better. In a couple hours, the crowds would come, signalling the commencement of her second game in the league. She couldn't say she was completely ready for it, but would deny that she wasn't ready. Any uncertainty seemed to be remedied by her friends. Their encouragement and support was enough to elicit the smile on her features as Hinata sat on a crate down the hall from the visitor's dressing room, in an open space. Her legs were folded beneath her.

Inuzuka Kiba sat to her left and Aburame Shino stood across from them. Kiba had three pucks, juggling them in the air while Shino ran the stopwatch that had been forced on him. Hinata's earlier juggling matched ignited a drive in him to gauge his own dexterity in relation to their goaltenders. The girl merely sat and watched, enjoying the company of new friends she never thought she would have. She admired Kiba's determination and ferocity, and Shino's calm, collected, and stoic nature.

"Have I broken her record from yesterday yet?" Kiba inquired, dark eyes intently watching each puck fly up and then fall back down. Hinata smiled, looking over for Shino's answer.

The bug-loving hockey player smirked behind the high collar of his jacket. He shook his head before speaking, "not even close."

"Seriously?" he questioned incredulously, followed by a hushed curse.

"Add to that that Hinata was juggling more than three items. You're a long way off of her record," Shino added with subtle humour in the back of his voice. The girl's smile grew and she attempted to stifle her laugh.

Then a puck shot across and Shino sidestepped to dodge the item. One of his eyebrows rose behind the lens of his dark glasses.

"How far off am I now?" Kiba asked, teeth gleaming in a sadistic smile. One puck was held idly and prepared to be blasted along with its counterpart when the moment came.

"Now you're down to two items, much less than Hinata," Shino taunted and then ducked the incoming rubber.

"Oh yea?" Kiba's eyes flashed and he got up off the crate, stomping over to his teammate. "I'll show you who'll be down a few items if you get my drift, bug-boy."

Shino remained unperturbed as the brunette stalked up to him. Their eyes met levelly and Hinata leaned forward in her seat to curiously watch the heated exchange of glares, though she easily saw the playful way in which the corner of Kiba's lips turned upward.

"What's this?" a voice interrupted, floating from the other side of the open space as the male walked up to the group of Heat players. "You two going to beat each other up already? Well, can't say I'd complain. It'd save me the trouble later on."

"Heh." Kiba turned on his large feet to face their latest rival. "Omoi," he seethed with disdain, "Careful there, you'll be eating your own words soon enough."

Shino had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Every confrontation with the opposition, Kiba always found himself inclined to boast and get riled up. Shino wouldn't normally complain or be bothered by it at all, but the way Hinata's lips quivered told him something was up and it was time to end Kiba's charade. But sooner than he could jump in, a dark-haired girl sat herself down beside the Hyuuga heiress.

"Hinata!" She exclaimed, slinging an arm around the petite girl's shoulders. "Long time, no see."

"K-K-Karui," Hinata stammered, even wincing as the name left her lips. "Y-yes… it's b-been awhile…" She tried to roll her shoulders, scoot over, or anything that would get her out of the other girl's grip. To her dismay, she was roughly pulled closer.

"Samui and I heard you had joined the Konoha team," she informed with fake cheer, "We just thought we should come out and well, _support_ you." Karui smiled wide, white teeth shining.

The other girl, Samui, stood behind Omoi. She looked bored with her half-lidded eyes and her hand rested on one hip. Samui was taller than either Karui or Hinata and had blonde hair so light it would match Ino's. Her figure was full and voluptuous; the envy of every girl at Kumo High. Hinata thought, beside her, Sakura would be the blandest girl in all of Konoha despite her vivacious pink hair and sparkling emerald eyes.

The Hyuuga's thoughts showed outwardly as her breaths hastened and there was a quiet whimper of protest when Karui pulled her closer. "We've missed you at school," the dark-haired girl teased, ruffling Hinata's hair unceremoniously. "Won't you come back and visit? Maybe there's a spot for you on Kumo's team here. I'm sure if you sweet talk Killerbee the same way you sweet talked your cousin…" She smirked when Hinata cringed but didn't pull away.

Omoi chuckled at the Hyuuga's reaction. Kiba and Shino shared worried glances. For a second, Kiba had stepped forward but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Let her handle it," Shino had said in a quiet voice.

"Stop it, Karui. You're going to make her cry," Samui interrupted, tilting her head enough to catch Hinata's light eyes for the briefest moments.

Hinata could barely contain the shudder that reverberated through her entire body. The blonde's eyes were narrowed and cat-like, but not because they were narrowed in anger, but they were naturally like that. It provoked a sense of panic and worry every time she saw them. She'd forgotten what her time in Kumo was like before moving to Konoha. But the memories were more than vivid now, like she'd never left. Hinata closed her eyes and slouched, fighting valiantly against the hot tears threatening to spill with no remorse.

"Oh, c'mon," Karui whined, ruffling the head of indigo hair even more. "It used to take much more to make her cry."

Kiba's hands fisted at his side and he shot Shino a glance that said he was about ready to rip that girl's head off.

"Besides…" Karui started, eyes narrowing sharply in contempt as she looked down on the weak girl in her arms, "it serves her right. She thinks just because she's a Hyuuga, she can do whatever she wants and wiggle her way into anything she wants. It's pathetic."

Hinata tried poorly to push herself out of the girl's hold while letting her curtain of hair hide the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her heart was tight and her chest heavy, like she couldn't find enough air to keep herself alive. _Pathetic_… It was a word she'd grown accustomed to in her Kumo years, but it hurt so much more this time.

"Shut up!" Kiba bellowed, stepping forward to reach for the quivering girl, but was stopped by Omoi.

"You touch one of my girls and I'll have your head," Omoi cut in, teeth clenched. "I don't care if Karui's got a small rack, but be a man… She's still a girl, so keep your grubby hands to yourself."

"Well, tell that little…" Kiba paused, feverishly thinking of a nasty word. "Uh, … small-rack girl to get her hands off the little mouse!"

Samui rolled her eyes. "Why don't you both stop?" she intruded. "It's clear Konoha has made their decision. Whether or not they realize the mess they've gotten themselves into by allowing her to join is irrelevant. It'll be their downfall in the end."

"I hardly think that's for you to decide," a deep voice pierced the tension.

Samui turned slightly and looked inquisitively into obsidian eyes. "You're right. It's no one's decision to make. I guess you could say fate decided to make Hyuuga Hinata the way she is; a failure."

"Hn." Sasuke smirked and walked up to the girl, unthreatened and with indifference, coming within inches of her. "No, that's for me to decide."

"Right, I forgot. You're an Uchiha." Samui looked onto the sable-haired hockey prodigy with disinterest. She then looked over to her friend before stepping around Sasuke. "I'm going to go find a seat. My back hurts and my shoulders are stiff."

Omoi had chuckled and sauntered after the blonde, mumbling something about stiff shoulders and her excessively sized breasts. The last of the trio, Karui, had given Hinata a derisive pat over her head before she too got up and left the Konoha players to themselves.

Behind the bangs that hung into her eyes, Hinata could see the three sets of feet. It was hard to miss when Sasuke had come. He had an aura she'd never miss, even in a room full of people. It was especially so when he was angry. Hinata pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands before she frantically wiped away her tears. She didn't want to be reprimanded any further.

"Get up," Sasuke demanded, ice running through his veins rather than blood. When she didn't move but only sniffled and whimpered, he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her roughly off the crate. She cried out and more tears made themselves known to her as she stumbled backwards. Fortunately, both his strong hands latched onto her arms to prevent her from falling under her weak legs.

The next thing Hinata felt was the cold, hard concrete of the wall press into her back as Sasuke pinned her to the spot. She finally brought her gaze up to meet his. Her cheeks glistened under the poor lighting and were red from the heat of her emotions. Her lips continued to quiver along the shiver running through her body. For a second, Sasuke realized his heart ached to see her like this.

_Why couldn't she be strong? Just once, for her own sake…_

He composed himself and locked stern eyes on her fragile ones. "Learn how to stand up for yourself, Hyuuga," he blasted, scorn laced in every word. Hinata squeaked her protest when his hand left her arm and slammed into the wall beside her head, making a low smack that echoed down the hall. "You are the Heat's goalie. If you can't stand up for yourself, then how are you to stand up for your team?"

"Sasuke," Shino said with a hint of worry in his normally calm voice. He was ignored. Kiba's expression flashed his displeasure with the situation, but he cringed and turned to look away, hands fisted tightly at his sides. Neither brunette could bear the image of the fearful girl. Kiba half wondered if Sasuke's heart possibly didn't exist.

Unbeknownst to them, the Uchiha had averted his eyes for a fraction of a second, hardly capable of withstanding the feelings ushered through his frame when she looked at him with so much anguish in those exotic eyes of hers. He was not a heartless man. No, he just had a way of disguising the aspects of him that made him human.

"You are our last line of defence out on the ice. You have a whole team relying on you, and…" His voice grew courser, harsher, more bitter with every word he uttered. His hand slammed into the wall once more, causing her to flinch and shrink back. Hinata only wished the wall would open up and swallow her whole, just so she didn't have to deal with any of this terror anymore.

"You can't even stand up for yourself!" Sasuke's jaws were clenched tightly and visible by the way the muscles tensed. His breaths were coming in deep waves, hissing past his teeth. "We trust you to protect the net, to protect the team, and here you can barely defend yourself. Maybe Neji was wrong about you all along! Maybe we all put too much faith in you!"

His face was nearly touching hers by now and she could feel his hot breath upon her skin. She fought to blink away the tears he brought forth, but failed. With her head bowed, she spoke in her soft, quiet voice, "y-you're… r-right." Hinata's chest heaved in long rises and falls as she regained her breaths, soothing the burn in her lungs. "I d-don't… b-belong here."

His features softened at her confession and he stepped away. Hinata took the opportunity to let her legs do as they pleased. She bolted down the hall and disappeared around a corner and into her temporary dressing room.

"Hinata!" Kiba called before running after her a second later.

Shino sighed and leaned against the wall, watching Sasuke quizzically through his spectacles. "Don't you think you overdid it?"

"It had to be done," Sasuke ground out. His own hands were fisted and hidden in his pockets. His dark eyes didn't spare Shino a glance but stared idly at the spot Hinata had been standing.

"But you still overdid it."

"I know," Sasuke conceded, and rather darkly before he started towards the dressing room.

* * *

**A/N:** I've been MIA for a looooong time. I apologize. On the bright side, this is my best semester thus far... Anyway here is the next installment of BtM. This is only half of what I originally had in mind for chapter 12, but it'd be too long and it ended nicely here. I'd like to say I'd get the next chapter out soon, but I've decided to not make anymore promises as I can't keep them with my busy schedule. I'll plead for patience and it's okay if you're mad...

On to business, "tank sisters" was coined by **SpammishRice**, so thanks to her! Second, **akaiichigo** did an awesome fanart for this fic. It is the bloody knuckles scene! Please take a look at it. The link is in my profile. I've also started a drabble project at my LiveJournal if you're interested.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Have a lovely day! Oh, and thanks for last chapter's reviews! I appreciate them all.


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